The Philadelphia Eagles made a couple of surprising salary cap releases earlier this offseason.
They officially take effect on Monday and gain the Eagles about $6.4 million in cap space.
Those were the cuts of Pro Bowl defensive backs Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
The Eagles made those moves with the “Post June-1” designation. That allows the owed money to be spread out over two salary cap years instead of one, thus creating some unexpected cap space for the upcoming season. That $6.4 million doesn’t account for the non-guaranteed salary that will now never be paid to Slay or Bradberry.
Whether or not the cuts were wise remains to be seen.
The Eagles’ secondary is now led by two second-year stars, Quinyon Mitchell at cornerback and Cooper DeJean at safety. But the depth is definitely thinner around them now.
Philadelphia is the defending Super Bowl champion, and it might seem odd that they got rid of two veterans with lots of ability and experience.
But this is how it goes every year in the NFL, and the best teams find ways to retool quickly.
As for Slay and Bradberry: Slay is now a Pittsburgh Steeler, while Bradberry remains a free agent.
The Eagles may regret letting “Big Play Slay” walk, but the move is done, and now the cap implications are official, too.
