Eagles, Lane Johnson reportedly agree to restructured contract to open up cap space

More spending money.

SECOND UPDATE: Actually, disregard that “first update” below. ESPN’s Field Yates is now saying the Eagles created $8.2 million in cap space by restructing Lane Johnson’s contract. He also reports Jason Kelce’s new contract creates $4 million in cap space. So that’s a total of $12.2 million in new cap space. Wonder what Howie Roseman has up his sleeves next.

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FIRST UPDATE: The Eagles saved nearly $6.7 million in cap space by restructuring Lane Johnson’s contract, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Original story below.

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Lane Johnson and the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to a restructured contract, according to a report from NFL insider Adam Caplan.

This news hardly comes as a surprise since the Eagles are tight up against the cap and needed to find a way to free up funds.

It’s currently unclear how much cap space the Eagles saved by restructuring Johnson’s contract. Regardless of the specifics, the basic thing to know is that they lowered his 2019 cap number by increasing it in future years. The Eagles previously did this with Johnson’s contract last year.

To be clear, Johnson is NOT taking a pay cut. Nor should he. The Eagles’ starting right tackle had another strong season en route to his second straight Pro Bowl honor. Philadelphia is simply moving money around in Johnson’s contract.

The upside to restructuring contracts is that it frees up cap space in the short-term. The downside is that it increases cap numbers in future seasons. It’s a classic example of kicking the can down the road.

It’ll sure be interesting to see how the Eagles utilize their cap space this offseason. Will they make a big splash and sign Le’Veon Bell? Will they look to re-sign some of more of their own free agents like Ronald Darby and Jordan Hicks? Do they second-tier free agents on their radar? Maybe Howie Roseman is ready to make some trades?

We’ll see. For now, we know the Eagles have some more room to work with. Over The Cap currently has the Eagles with around $16.6 million in cap space but that doesn’t account for new contract extensions recently signed by Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, and Isaac Seumalo.

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