Explaining Eagles Cap Situation After A.J. Brown Trade And Why They Took A Small Hit
The Philadelphia Eagles had to wait until the post-June 1 deadlien to trade A.J. Brown. They didn't have a choice.
Trading Brown to the New England Patriots after the June 1 deadline was essentially a reset for the Eagles, as they could split the dead cap up into two years. The Eagles pay $16.35 million this year in dead cap and $27.10 million next year, opposed to $43.25 million if Brown was traded prior to June 1.
There was also a slight salary cap hit attached to trading Brown, but not a major one. Prior to trading Brown, the Eagles had $26,286,209 in cap space available. That number is now $25,322,291 (per Over The Cap), so a slight hit of $963,918.
These are caculated numbers, so don't take them as gospel. The Eagles have essentially $25-26 million in salary cap space available after the Brown trade, and these numbers aren't final.
Philadelphia did take a small hit for trading Brown, which would have been significantly larger before June 1. The Eagles will receive a cap credit for $5.5 million in 2027, so that does help down the line.
Regardless, the Eagles are paying a small price to trade Brown. They still have some spending money with their salary cap as mandatory minicamp gets underway.
There's room to improve
The Eagles have some needs for a roster upgrade, particularly at safety and the interior of the offensive line. They can roll into the season with Marcus Epps at safety with Cooper DeJean playing safety in base defense, and are willing to try out that idea.
There are some trade candidates available should the Eagles choose to upgrade at safety. The Eagles could dive into the free agent pool, but there may not be enough solid players left to use cap resources on.
Upgrading at safety will be interesting. The same goes for right guard with Mekhi Becton still available, but minicamp will have to play itself out with right guard.
The Eagles did dip further into the undrafted free agent pool with Zion Wilson -- and Brandon Graham could still return. They also could wait until late in training camp to upgrade at safety, similar to the four years ago when they traded for C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
There's still time to make improvements to the roster. The Eagles don't have to jump into the deep end of the pool right away.
Save the cap money
The Eagles have several extensions to pay out over the next few years, meaning they'll have to spend soem cash. Cash is different than salary cap, and the cash has to be paid out (which is where dead money comes in).
The players eligible for extensions? Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Jalyx Hunt. Riq Woolen could also be due for an extension with a big season.
Of course, Jalen Hurts could be getting a contract extension as well. There's a lot at play for the Eagles with their own players going forward.
The Eagles created enough cap space for their own players -- and to add talent where need be for 2026. Not a bad situation to be in.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as Explaining Eagles Cap Situation After A.J. Brown Trade And Why They Took A Small Hit.
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This story was originally published June 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM.