According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapport, the Eagles could be set to release defensive end Vinny Curry this offseason.
The only caveat is the #Eagles are attempting to restructure and redo his deal. If that happens he could stay… will take a lot of work. https://t.co/O5EcFTgcAY
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 4, 2018
The New Jersey native signed a huge extension with the team just two year’s ago, but the Birds have a potential ‘out’ that would leave them $6M in dead cap space. However this is an improvement over the $9M that the Marshall product was scheduled to make.
The Eagles could well be looking to restructure Curry’s deal before this ultimatum. Curry rebounded in his second year under Jim Schwartz, netting 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 42 tackles. He became a key cog in the Eagles pass-rush machine and it should be within their best interests to re-sign him.
The reason being is one man and one man only, Brandon Graham. The elite pass-rusher has had yet another stellar season that has gone unrewarded and while he’s watched the team draft Derek Barnett, sign Chris Long and give $47M to Vinny Curry, it’s safe to say that a 9.5 sack season deserves a big payday.
It’s unlikely that the Eagles will be able to grant Graham’s wishes, highlighted by the potential of his running-mate. But if the Birds’ do insist on releasing Curry, should a restructuring negotiation fall through, then the team could be in big trouble. Brandon Graham has one more year left on his contract but at this stage stands as one of the team’s most valuable trade assets, as Tim Jernigan was for Baltimore last offseason.
Should the Eagles decide to trade Graham and let Vinny Curry walk, they would be left with very little in the way of depth. Chris Long is set to become a free agent after next season too and that leaves Derek Barnett and Steven Means as remnants of the 53-man Super Bowl winning roster.
Releasing Curry would save the Eagles a significant amount of money, but at what cost? The pass-rush rotation was arguably the most dominant factor in the Jim Schwartz pass-rushing roulette last year and by losing so much fire power in one offseason, it would leave the Birds a little shorthanded and with a lack of explosiveness. It’s an unlikely scenario, but certainly a plausible one.
Howie Roseman overpaid for the services of Curry and is now paying the price. He’s set to make a similar $9M figure next year and $10M in the season after that. If a restructuring cannot be done, the landscape only grows more baron. Backloaded contracts to Lane Johnson, Zach Ertz, Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan and Alshon Jeffery currently leave the Eagles with the least amount of projected cap space through 2021. Curry’s contract takes up a significant chunk of the pie-chart and the team are now faced with a conundrum.
The perfect scenario would either be a trade, where the Eagles can use the returns in draft capital to bolster their pass-rush and the extra funding to go towards a Brandon Graham ‘penny-jar’. But not everything is as easy as 1-2-3 in the NFL and things could go incredibly south incredibly quickly for the Birds.
Curry has become a fan favorite since being drafted by the Eagles back in 2012. Now, the entire defensive end rotation may just hinge on his shoulders. Do the Eagles want to retain their investment in the future, or instead reward the present for elite pass-rushing over the last few years? Is this about building from the future, or sustaining the current? These are two questions that go hand-in-hand with this decision and it could turn out to be one of the most important of the offseason.
Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
