Zach Ertz restructures contract to help Eagles gain even more cap space, per report

The Philadelphia Eagles have restructured Zach Ertz’s contract in order to gain even more cap room, according to a report from NFL insider Field Yates.

Again, Ertz isn’t taking a pay cut. The Eagles are just increasing his cap number in future years in order to lower it for 2018. Same kind of deal as what the Eagles did with Lane Johnson’s contract restructure earlier this week.

Prior to free agency, the Eagles were almost $10 million OVER the cap. Restructuring Johnson freed up $7.5 million, however, and cutting Brent Celek saved $4 million. The Eagles saved another $5 million by trading Torrey Smith but those savings essentially broke even by trading for Michael Bennett. The Eagles then officially spent more money on a Nigel Bradham extension and a Corey Nelson signing. They’re also expected to sign Haloti Ngata, though that hasn’t been officially finalized as of Thursday morning.

The Eagles aren’t necessarily done making roster moves. They could save another $5 million by releasing or trading Curry. Getting rid of Mychal Kendricks, which seems likely now, would also save $4.4 million.

Just because the Eagles are clearing up cap doesn’t necessarily mean they’re aiming to make another big move this offseason. The Eagles can save unused cap space to roll over to future years, which could come in handy with the Carson Wentz mega-contract looming in the not too distant future.

With that said, I don’t think that the Eagles are fully done in free agency just yet. Clearing up space allows Howie Roseman to continue to make moves.