Eagles reportedly saved a big chunk of cap space with Rodney McLeod’s reworked contract

SECOND UPDATE: NFL insider Mike Garafolo says Rodney McLeod’s deal is worth $5.25 million with $3 million fully guaranteed.

FIRST UPDATE: NFL insider Ian Rapoport has more details on Rodney McLeod’s reworked deal. It turns out McLeod took a pay cut and he’ll be a free agent after the 2019 season:

Eagles and Rodney McLeod agreed to a restructured contract that pays him $3M base for 2019 with a $1M more if he plays all 16 games, source said. McLeod, coming off knee surgery, was to make $7.5M this year on a deal through 2020. The last year was cut off & he’s free after 2019.

Original story below.

On Thursday evening, the Philadelphia Eagles officially announced they agreed to a reworked contract with starting safety Rodney McLeod. The exact details of the new deal were not known at the time. Now we know the Eagles saved a significant chunk of cap space in 2019, thanks to ESPN’s Field Yates:

Source: Rodney McLeod’s reworked deal with the Eagles drops his 2019 base salary from $7.5M to $1.5M. In total, the move creates $7.469M in cap space for Philly.

You just never really have to worry about cap space when Howie Roseman is involved. He’s proven that he’s always able to make it work.

It’s still not perfectly clear if McLeod’s reworked deal includes a pay cut of some sort. Note that a pay cut and a restructure are not the same thing. In short, a pay cut is where the player simply receives less money. A restructure is where there’s no difference in the amount of money the player receives; the only change is when they receive it.

It doesn’t seem likely that McLeod took a huge pay cut. But it also seems like his new deal is more than just a simple restructure, especially considering no one has used that exact word to describe his deal. Everyone keeps using the term: “reworked.”

There’s a downside to restructuring contracts. The short-term cap relief is usually made possible by kicking the can down the road and increasing the player’s cap hit in future seasons. It’s unclear how McLeod’s deal impacts his currently projected $10.9 million cap figure for the 2020 season.

But the Eagles aren’t worried about 2020 for now. They’re just trying to make things work in 2019 and that’s important considering Philly is currently projected to be $18.4 million OVER the cap. Note that the Eagles must be UNDER the cap by the time the new league year starts in March.

McLeod’s reworked deal has helped the Eagles to save some cap space in 2019. The Eagles will be able to save an additional $18.8 million by either trading Nick Foles or ultimately letting him walk in free agency. There are other cost-cutting moves the Eagles can and will make this offseason.