3 years $75M, $51M guaranteed.
per twitter.
Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
The #Eagles have paid another big-time, rising player. This time, WR DeVonta Smith gets a 3-year, $75M contract extension that includes $51M guaranteed, sources say.
The deal was done by @kelt_crenshaw
of @KlutchSports
, and it keeps Smith in PHI for years to come. 💰 💰 💰
this year was scheduled at @3.4m, plus a 5yo remaining, i would think this is a 3 year extension on top of that for 5 years total. 25m per year ties AJB for 4th highest of all WRs. 51m if fully guaranteed would be 2nd most but i would think that amount is inclusive of what he had left not on top.
i think amon-ra and ceedee lamb are the next wrs up, with jefferson in the hole to probably go above 150m total.
Smith will get another bite at the Apple while he’s still in his prime.
they have lost almost half of their starters from the SB team, many for cap reasons (or retirements that freed up cap space).
lol.
Probably the most pissed off I have been during the draft. Two division rivals making the trade just made it even worse.
his cap hit this year was supposed to be 6.4m.
of the 51m guaranteed, my guess is a big chunk is signing bonus which would prorate similarly over 5 years (if it's a full 5 year deal, which i suspect it probably is).
but the eagles use a lot of funky structures with option bonuses, so who knows.
in the end i think this will be pretty close to:
the 2 remaining years (19m already gtd)
+2 years that would have been franchise tags (~$50m now partially gtd)
+1 more year that would have been uncontrolled for philly (not gtd)
devonta gave philly a few extra cost controlled years in return for an extra $30m guaranteed today.
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This is probably another backloaded deal. The first year cap hit is probably minimal.
his cap hit this year was supposed to be 6.4m.
of the 51m guaranteed, my guess is a big chunk is signing bonus which would prorate similarly over 5 years (if it's a full 5 year deal, which i suspect it probably is).
but the eagles use a lot of funky structures with option bonuses, so who knows.
in the end i think this will be pretty close to:
the 2 remaining years (19m already gtd)
+2 years that would have been franchise tags (~$50m now partially gtd)
+1 more year that would have been uncontrolled for philly (not gtd)
devonta gave philly a few extra cost controlled years in return for an extra $30m guaranteed today.
They have no cap space. Be shocked if this is not option years as far as the eye can see. That is why they can spend so much money. They will spend 50% to 100% more on their roster this year than we will. Eventually they are going to have to blow it up. Probably after this year.
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In comment 16469265 Jay on the Island said:
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This is probably another backloaded deal. The first year cap hit is probably minimal.
his cap hit this year was supposed to be 6.4m.
of the 51m guaranteed, my guess is a big chunk is signing bonus which would prorate similarly over 5 years (if it's a full 5 year deal, which i suspect it probably is).
but the eagles use a lot of funky structures with option bonuses, so who knows.
in the end i think this will be pretty close to:
the 2 remaining years (19m already gtd)
+2 years that would have been franchise tags (~$50m now partially gtd)
+1 more year that would have been uncontrolled for philly (not gtd)
devonta gave philly a few extra cost controlled years in return for an extra $30m guaranteed today.
They have no cap space. Be shocked if this is not option years as far as the eye can see. That is why they can spend so much money. They will spend 50% to 100% more on their roster this year than we will. Eventually they are going to have to blow it up. Probably after this year.
i doubt it.
once they did that there was little downside in pushing farther all in to make that bet successful.
Doubt you can back that up. Spotrac has 2024 cash at $279M Eagles, $258M Giants, a difference of 8%.
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In comment 16469276 Eric on Li said:
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In comment 16469265 Jay on the Island said:
Quote:
This is probably another backloaded deal. The first year cap hit is probably minimal.
his cap hit this year was supposed to be 6.4m.
of the 51m guaranteed, my guess is a big chunk is signing bonus which would prorate similarly over 5 years (if it's a full 5 year deal, which i suspect it probably is).
but the eagles use a lot of funky structures with option bonuses, so who knows.
in the end i think this will be pretty close to:
the 2 remaining years (19m already gtd)
+2 years that would have been franchise tags (~$50m now partially gtd)
+1 more year that would have been uncontrolled for philly (not gtd)
devonta gave philly a few extra cost controlled years in return for an extra $30m guaranteed today.
They have no cap space. Be shocked if this is not option years as far as the eye can see. That is why they can spend so much money. They will spend 50% to 100% more on their roster this year than we will. Eventually they are going to have to blow it up. Probably after this year.
i doubt it.
They won't have to blow it up until '27-'28 or so when Hurts money hits hard. Even then, they could just further extend his money into the future. They can prolong the blow up as long as they continue extending Hurts' cash into the future.
Their GM and cap specialists are the best in the business. I was hoping Brandon Brown was going to impart some of that wisdom to our boys….but apparently he hasn’t….yet.
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That the eagles can sign or resign players regardless of the cost and have no major cap situation.. while we struggle to fill our roster due to cap implications.
Their GM and cap specialists are the best in the business. I was hoping Brandon Brown was going to impart some of that wisdom to our boys….but apparently he hasn’t….yet.
There's no reason to do any of this if the window is not only unopened, it's boarded shut multiple times. You don't so this kind of cap maneuvering when your struggling to get out of the bottom feeder level. This is for when you see an opent window of opportunity to compete for super Bowls.
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That the eagles can sign or resign players regardless of the cost and have no major cap situation.. while we struggle to fill our roster due to cap implications.
they have lost almost half of their starters from the SB team, many for cap reasons (or retirements that freed up cap space).
This furthers my point
Following the Devonta Smith extension, the Eagles now have (by average annual value), the...
4th highest paid QB
4th highest paid RB
4th highest paid WR
5th highest paid WR (reported 25 AAV for Smith)
5th highest paid TE
4th highest paid OT
5th highest paid OT
Highest paid OG
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That the eagles can sign or resign players regardless of the cost and have no major cap situation.. while we struggle to fill our roster due to cap implications.
Their GM and cap specialists are the best in the business. I was hoping Brandon Brown was going to impart some of that wisdom to our boys….but apparently he hasn’t….yet.
why would you expect Brandon Brown to impart that wisdom, wasn't he a scouting director there. They have finance guys working on the cap reporting to the GM. I doubt the scouting side got into those conversations.
especially when Hurts contract won't hurt (no pun intended) until he's cuttable with zero cap implications.
the way they used void years, guarantees, bonuses, and salary is really ingenious - made so by scouting to an extent (bad player on a good contract is still a bad player). Of course they haven't won a SB with this model, the SB they won was different, but they will remain competitive if they keep adding quality players and avoid major injury issues.
i would guess hurts hurts sometime between 2026-2028 and they have to eat more than 100m of dead money to move on.
it is not hard to envision them wanting to move on even sooner though. his int% doubled last year (3rd worst of all full time starters) and he regressed in almost every good metric. td, ypg, comp%, y/a, qb rating, qbr, rushing ypg, rush y/a, fumbles the same.
if they move on from siriani who knows what happens. they are either hiring a new coach whose system can inherit hurts or eating a bigger hit than denver/russ - and that's not just this year but any of the next 4 seasons.
But I don't get this move on Smith's contract. Smith has been good, but no one is confusing him with Hill, Jefferson, Adams, etc. So, why make early on an extension?
But I don't get this move on Smith's contract. Smith has been good, but no one is confusing him with Hill, Jefferson, Adams, etc. So, why make early on an extension?
next year his $15m 5yo would have been guaranteed. this year he had $3.5m gtd left. if they tagged him the year after that would be 25m.
so assume those 3 things happened, that would have been $43m, $19m of which would be guaranteed before training camp.
they guaranteed him just $7m more ($51m) to get 2 extra years of control.
they can structure his next 3 years however they want. if they play games, his cap hits can be lower than they would have been, and in 2025/2026 they probably will be.
that is why they are locking in the price now, before it accelerates even farther and they end up giving him $50m+ guaranteed over the next 3 years but not getting any extra years out of it.
even if he declines, it makes financial sense for them to bite the bullet until the 2029 season.
At that time he is cuttable with no dead cap.
Even if they decided to part ways in 2028 they'd have just 7.7M in dead cap.
and that is without doing a thing to the current contract.
It's reasonable to believe Hurts will be playable and a competitive QB for 4 more seasons.
To get there at most requires two "painful" seasons.
2026 when he has a $31.7M cap number
2027 when he has a $41.8M cap number
I'd suffer through 2027 if I were them if it meant i could part ways (and he warranted parting ways) for just $7.77M in dead cap.
Giants ate double that on Golladay.
Hurts 2024 and 2025 are easily some of the best QB cap value in the league.
and why would they move on? if they need to replace him. they gave wentz 128m in june 2019 and moved on in february 2021. things happen quickly in the nfl. this contract is much harder to get out of than the wentz deal though.
you are misunderstanding how option bonuses work. that chart i posted was from Jason Fitzgerald who runs OTC.
https://overthecap.com/thoughts-on-jalen-hurts-255-million-contract-with-the-eagles - ( New Window )
remaining an effective QB is not the same as being good enough to justify the amount of money he's being paid and living up to those expectations - which are SB contender. russell wilson is still effective but he's not still a bronco.
i dont envy either contract but 90m of the fully guaranteed $ to cousins is in the next 2 years. in March 2026 they can move on pretty close to free/clear with just some prorated sb accelerating. they have 3 drafts to find a cost effective replacement (2024, 2025, or 2026) and id consider that if one of the top guys this year falls to #8 (or round 2). considering where they were there's no downside to shooting their shot both ways.
"cap hell" is 99% myth, but the hurts deal is one that looks so crazy to me that i think it has a chance to become the 1%. even if the #'s were exactly the same id have just structured it less gimmicky, like cousins or jones last year (which was most recent comp), and picked/chosen which years to restructure and which not to more in the moment instead of preemptively punting so much risk out so long. i respect roseman a lot and that they went all in, not unlike cousins hurts just isnt a player id have felt comfortable doing that with.
And even in 5 years Hurts is still 5 years younger than Cousins is today (just for example not to pick on Cousins).
they basically bought out Hurts prime IMO.
Ginnitti does point out that the dead cap numbers on Hurts' Spotrac player page are not to be taken at face value, because they only reflect the initial full guarantees and not subsequent money that is virtually guaranteed.
The dead cap that appears on the contract right now only applies to elements of the deal that are fully guaranteed at signing ($110M + the carry over signing bonus proration from the rookie contract).
By the time we get to March of 2027 (presumably when the two sides could be looking to part), another $49.785M option bonus will have vested (adding $39.9M of bonus dead cap), & $22M of 2027 salary will already have become fully guaranteed. That’s an additional $61.8M of dead cap, raising the 2027 total to $106.5M.
Ginnitti's $106.5M number agrees with Fitzgerald's "Pre 2027 Option" number in his chart.
But Ginnitti then adds some numbers that are, on their face, at least somewhat better for the Eagles than Fitzgerald's:
What about when the deal concludes after 2028? $86.5M of dead cap
Ginnitti also makes this observation:
spotrac - ( New Window )
And even in 5 years Hurts is still 5 years younger than Cousins is today (just for example not to pick on Cousins).
they basically bought out Hurts prime IMO.
if the eagles end up wanting to move on and his contract isnt painful to get out of then there is no such thing as a painful contract. there are only a handful of contracts with as much dead money risk as hurts, and they are for much better players (burrow, herbert, lamar). he got paid to play like the mvp candidate he was in 2022 not what he was last year and that's a very high bar.