They have about a million decisions to make. None bigger than what to do with Nnamdi Asomugha.
As the offseason heats up with the Combine this week in Indianapolis, free agency a few weeks away and the draft in two months, the Eagles must determine if Asomugha, the one-time dazzling All-Pro corner with the Raiders, is salvageable.
Asomugha was inconsistent in 2011 in his first year with the Eagles but downright awful this past season.
He’s due $15 million in base salary in 2013, and if the Eagles release him, they’ll owe him the $4 million guaranteed portion of his base salary.
Asomugha’s $15 million salary cap figure in 2013 is not just the highest on the team, it represents more than 10 percent of the Eagles’ total projected available cap space this coming season.
Combine his astronomical salary and cap figure with his woeful play on the field, and it’s impossible to imagine the Eagles keeping Asomugha, who is also due $12 million each in 2014 and 2015.
If they release him, they’ll eat only the $4 million guaranteed portion of his base salary and take a $4 million cap hit. It’s a lot of money but considering the Eagles’ vast amount of cap space, not prohibitive.
If Asomugha’s play was even adequate, the Eagles could ask Asomugha to cut his pay to return. But Asomugha really represents everything that went wrong with this team last year, and it’s tough to come up any realistic scenario in which he stays.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, asked Tuesday about Asomugha, hardly gave him a ringing endorsement.
The question: Was signing Asomugha a mistake?
Roseman: “We were 4-12 last year, so there were a lot of mistakes that were made, and we’re very disappointed about the results.
“We want to make sure that going forward that we have the right fits for our scheme and fitting into our culture for every player on the team.
“At the same, we want to make sure we communicate with all our players and talk to them about their role when it’s appropriate.”
Which sure seems to be a nicer way of saying: “He stinks, but we haven’t told him we’re cutting him yet.”
Asomugha isn’t the only veteran Eagle in danger of getting cut.
Veteran defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins is due a $1.5 million roster bonus on March 17. He’s due $4.5 million in base salary, with $1.5 million of it guaranteed. So if the Eagles release him, they’d spend $1.5 million to save another $1.5 million.
Evan Mathis is due a $1 million roster bonus on March 24, but he was the Eagles’ offensive MVP last year and it’s hard to imagine he doesn’t fit into new head coach Chip Kelly’s plans.
Nate Allen is an interesting name. He’s due a $709,000 roster bonus next month to go with a modest $642,000 base salary, $575,000 of which is guaranteed. Not much of a savings. Do the Eagles consider him salvageable? We’ll find out soon.
One other oddity regarding the Eagles’ 2013 payroll: 2011 Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin, released during the 2012 season, has a $900,000 cap figure thanks to an accelerated portion of his original signing bonus.
Babin, now with the Jaguars actually has the 18th-highest 2013 cap figure on the team.
Thanks to their $23,046,035 in unspent 2012 payroll, the Eagles have a projected adjusted salary cap of about $145 million, since the unadjusted cap figure is expected to be about $122 million.
The players they currently have under contract have a combined 2013 cap hit of $126,680,602, although that number is certain to come down as the Eagles trim the roster in the coming weeks.
The Eagles’ 10-richest 2013 contracts add up to $68,316,625 against the cap, or nearly half their available cap space.
The list below illustrates the gap between the haves and the relative have-nots in the NFL. The Eagles have 14 players with a cap figure of $2.3 million or higher but only three between $768,000 and $2.3 million.
Here’s a look at the 2013 cap figures of everybody currently on the Eagles’ roster (with the exception of Dennis Dixon and Ed Wang, whose contracts are not yet available. Also: If a player is listed twice, it’s because he signed two separate contracts last year with the Ealges):
Nnamdi Asomugha $15,000,000
Jason Peters $11,042,000
DeSean Jackson $9,000,000
Cullen Jenkins $5,600,000
Trent Cole $5,350,000
LeSean McCoy $4,940,625
Jeremy Maclin $4,553,000
Brent Celek $4,531,000
Todd Herremans $4,300,000
Evan Mathis $4,000,000
Mike Patterson $3,000,000
Brandon Graham $2,957,500
Jason Avant $2,710,000
Fletcher Cox $2,327,545
Nate Allen $1,242,000
Mychal Kendricks $1,010,101
Mat McBriar $920,000
*Jason Babin $900,000
Vinny Curry $768,598
Curtis Marsh $760,880
Clay Harbor $743,225
Antonio Dixon $735,000
Allen Barbre $720,000
Trent Edwards $715,000
Evan Moore $715,000
Riley Cooper $672,871
Casey Matthews $663,716
Alex Henery $660,027
Nick Foles $655,880
Jamar Chaney $645,064
Kurt Coleman $640,842
Everette Brown $630,000
Brandon Hughes $630,000
Nick Miller $630,000
Dion Lewis $602,220
Matt Kopa $588,333
Brandon Boykin $581,367
Jason Kelce $579,358
*Jaiquawn Jarrett $558,636
Dennis Kelly $527,220
Phillip Hunt $511,668
Bryce Brown $492,720
Damaris Johnson $485,000
Chris Polk $483,333
Ronnie Cameron $480,000
Marcus Dowtin $480,000
Stanley Havili $480,000
Chris Hawkins $480,000
Uchechukwu Igwenagu $480,000
Trevard Lindley $480,000
Marvin McNutt $480,000
Nate Menkin $480,000
Ryan Rau $480,000
Dallas Reynolds $480,000
Chris McCoy $412,500
Derek Carrier $405,000
B.J. Cunningham $405,000
Ron Johnson $405,000
Matt Reynolds $405,000
*Keenan Clayton $116,698
*Mike Kafka $116,698
*Marvin McNutt $74,172
*Jordan Ford $8,334
*Uchechukwu Igwenagu $7,334
*Charles Henry $5,834
*Brett Brackett $3,334
*Cliff Harris $3,334
*Tevita Finau $1,334
*Matt Camilli $667
*Alfred McCullough $667
* -- Player Released
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Asomugha tops list of Eagles who could be cut
Wednesday, February 20, 2013 - 7:00am

























