Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce (62). Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Pair of unsigned veterans could hold key to Eagles' salary cap

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 2/9/24

As far as Philadelphia's salary cap is concerned, getting a pair of veteran players back in Eagles green could keep the team out of the red in 2024.

Brandon Graham and Jason Kelce have a combined 27 years and 388 games with Philadelphia. According to Spotrac, they’ve earned over $175M with the team. Both are unsigned for 2024, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely off the books.

At the moment, the Eagles have $20.8M in salary cap space for next season, slightly above the league average, with $4M in dead cap money. That number will surely grow as the team adds new players, especially if Graham and Kelce don’t re-sign with the team.

Graham has already said that he hopes to return and based on his dead cap number, the team better hope he does. If not, he’ll cost Philadelphia $13.2M in dead cap money. The soon-to-be 36-year-old carried a $10M cap hit last year, so look for the Eagles to bring him back at a much lower number.

Jason Kelce on retirement pic.twitter.com/69f4IN4H77
— Dan Gelston (@APgelston) January 17, 2024

Kelce is a bit more complicated. Unlike Graham, the 36-year-old center is still playing at a very high level. Most assumed he’d retire at the end of the year, but recent reports (and his brother) suggest otherwise.

If he returns, he’ll cost substantially more than Graham, but if he doesn’t, he’ll still cost $16M against the cap. He cost the team only $10M in 2023, so bringing back the future Hall of Famer should be a top priority for the team.

The good news is that general manager Howie Roseman has plenty of experience manipulating the cap and bringing back veterans on team-friendly deals. The team’s dead cap number started at $54M in 2023, so taking care of Graham and Kelce should be no problem for Roseman.

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