The Philadelphia Eagles are maintaining a roster full of immense talent, something many NFL teams struggle to do. And it turns out the defending champs have been able to achieve it through smart accounting rather than drafting. It’s a process that takes advantage of a lesser-known rule that more teams are starting to become familiar with.
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That rule is the use of void years, which pushes the costs of some player contracts down the road. It’s been a smart strategy for the Eagles, especially under Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni, as the team prioritizes winning. However, it could also backfire, as one day they might be paying large sums to players no longer on the roster.
What exactly are void years?
First of all, we understand if you’re unfamiliar with the term. Even some of the biggest NFL fans don’t know what voided years are in contracts. Essentially, they’re years that a player isn’t on the team but are still counted for cap purposes.
Every NFL contract consists of a salary and bonuses. The salary is paid that year to the player and counts against the cap. But bonuses, like signing bonuses, can be spread out over the length of the contract.
So, teams like the Eagles have started adding void years, which are basically fake seasons. The player usually isn’t paid a salary in these years, but the team spreads the signing bonus over them to lower the cap hit. It’s a smart way to spread out costs instead of taking a huge cap hit all in one season.
How the Eagles use void years to their advantage
To emphasize how the Eagles used this loophole to their advantage, we should compare them to another competitive team. How about their rival, the Dallas Cowboys? They had to trade away Micah Parsons recently because they didn’t want to give him an expensive contract.
It was a surprising move, but they were almost forced to do it. Why? Because they’re already paying so much money to Dak Prescott, who has a $50 million cap hit.
Now, let’s look at the Eagles. Their quarterback, Jalen Hurts, has just a $21 million cap hit this season. In fact, his base salary will be just over $1 million, while his bonus and prorated bonus make up the rest.
This is because after his contract is up in 2028, the Eagles will continue to carry prorated bonus amounts for cap purposes through 2032, allowing them to pay him less against the cap today compared to the open market.
If you’ve heard of Bobby Bonilla Day in the MLB, then you’re already familiar with this idea. But in the NFL, they’re just beginning to learn that this strategy can do wonders for expensive teams trying to win now. Why pay huge amounts to everyone upfront when you can spread it out over time?
Eagles GM on voided years strategy
Of course, the risk with voiding contracts down the line is that one day, the Eagles could be paying large sums to players no longer on the team, leaving them with little financial room to operate. But their GM, Howie Roseman, believes it’s the right strategy to fully capitalize on the current roster of talent.
“We have to do whatever we can to make sure that we keep this window open for as long as possible,” Roseman told the Wall Street Journal. “But we have to get creative to make sure that we’re keeping as many of our good players as we can.”
So far, it’s proved to be a great strategy that has helped the Eagles construct a budding dynasty. But that doesn’t mean that every player is bought in on the strategy. Some guys want their money as soon as possible. And the team has lost some essential defensive pieces this offseason. Darius Slay, Josh Sweat, and Milton Williams, just to name a few.
Right now, voiding contracts and kicking money down the road seems to be the new strategy to construct a competitive roster under the salary cap. But we still don’t know so much about the ramifications of the strategy. We also don’t know if the NFL and Rodger Goodell would ever think to create a rule to counter the loophole, which could severely mess up the Eagles’ plans.
But as of today, that’s not the case. And the Eagles and other teams will continue to prorate salary bonuses down the road so that they can pay other star players, while also staying under the cap.
