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As the Eagles look for cap space on the roster to become cap compliant in 2021, they turned today to fan favorite stud RG Brandon Brooks.
Philadelphia Eagles guard Brandon Brooks is restructuring his contact to help the team with cap space, per source. Simple cap move, the case with many big-ticket players around league.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 12, 2021
That the Eagles restructured Brooks is no small deal. Brooks is coming off of an offseason Achilles tear that kept him out of the entire 2020 season — the second time he’s torn an ACL in the last three years with the Eagles. As they look to rebuild a depleted roster, there were reportedly trade talks surrounding Brooks, who is arguably the best guard in football when he’s healthy.
Trading Brooks would have also given the Eagles cap relief — but by restructuring his deal, the Eagles double down on their expectation that Brooks sticks with the team long-term, but committing more of his money over the remainder of his deal (currently through 2024). The Eagles are betting that the 31-year-old guard can come back from another Achilles injury and return to top-tier play.
With Jason Kelce returning to play for another season and Lane Johnson still in Philadelphia — and reportedly not restructuring his deal, now that the Brooks restructure is done — the right side of the Eagles’ line is cemented in place. LG Isaac Seumalo should return as well, leaving just the LT battle between Andre Dillard and Jordan Mailata. After a record-setting number of offensive line iterations in 2020, the Eagles are largely returning the same starters along the line, and hoping that everyone is able to stay healthy throughout the season.
Brooks’ restructure reportedly returns over $7M in cap relief for the 2021 season. This is good news for Philadelphia, of course — but the job is far from done. The Eagles still have nearly $10M in cap space they need to clear in order to get under the cap ceiling, so expect at least one, if not two more restructures to come down the mountain for the Eagles’ larger veteran contracts.
Brandon Brooks is sticking around in Philadelphia, which is awesome news. If he’s able to come back healthy and return to his previous form, he’ll be a value signing at almost any price tag.