Today very well may be Alshon Jeffery’s last day as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
ESPN’s Field Yates notes that teams can officially begin to designate players as post-June 1 cuts after the new league year begins at 4:00 PM Eastern.
Effective after 4 PM EST today, teams can release players with a post-June 1 designation, which would allow them to spread dead money over two seasons. That will afford teams more money on the 2020 cap as they continue to work through free agency.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 18, 2020
BGN has previously wrote about this possibility multiple times.
Prior to the recent CBA ratification, the Eagles didn’t have an option of designating Jeffery as a post-June 1. Releasing him would’ve meant they were on the hook for $26.1 million in 2020, which would’ve qualify for the largest individual dead money charge in NFL history.
But now that there IS a new CBA in place, the Eagles can designate Jeffery as a post-June 1 cut and “only” incur a dead million charge of ~$15.4 million in 2020. This maneuver makes moving on from Jeffery more stomach-able since the Eagles will avoid losing $10.7 million in cap space this offseason.
Here’s what cutting Jeffery WITHOUT a post-June 1 designation would look like, via Over The Cap:
And now WITH the post-June 1 designation:
While there are those who believe the Eagles should retain Jeffery, all signs point to the idea that that ship has sailed. Look back at this exchange Jimmy Kempski and I had on BGN Radio last month:
JIMMY: I’m already on the record over and over again saying that I think they’re going to cut Alshon Jeffery.
BLG: But why? Because I write this on BGN and people are like, ‘You’re crazy. It’s not going to happen.’
JIMMY: Well, I think they just want him out of the building. And rightfully so. I mean, it’s two straight years he criticized the starting quarterback.
BLG: Yeah, but how do you know it was him?
JIMMY: I can’t say that. But I’m extremely confident that it was him. And I think the Eagles know it was him. So, I think they’re going to want to get him out of the building. And I think they’re just going to take their medicine and take the cap hit.
Also consider there was a report that the Eagles are “looking to move” Jeffery.
Jeffery appears to have worn out his welcome in the locker room after being the suspected source of anonymous criticism that leaked out about Carson Wentz and the Eagles’ offense. One “prominent player” reportedly confronted Jeffery last season to the point where the two had to be separated.
Of course, just because the Eagles can release Jeffery as soon as today doesn’t necessarily guarantee they will. But it feels like only a matter of time before this shoe drops.