Once the Super Bowl ends, teams make moves preparing for the upcoming season. One of the teams appearing to make some early changes are the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2012, the Eagles selected Mychal Kendricks from University of California. In his five seasons with the Eagles, Kendricks has produced well: 382 totals tackles, 12 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions, and 20 pass breakups. According to PhillyVoice Staff writer Jimmy Kempski,
Kendricks will count for $6,600,000 against the salary cap in 2017, $1,800,000 of which the Eagles would save if they released or traded him. Kendricks would count for $4,800,000 in dead money. As PhillyVoice reported a few weeks ago, the Eagles are expected to free up significant cap space this offseason.
With Jim Schwartz jumping in and changing the defensive scheme this past season, Kendricks’ snaps fell dramatically. Is a player owed $6 million worth only playing in a fifth of your team’s defensive snaps? Kempski goes on to say:
Another option at the Eagles’ disposal is to designate Kendricks as a “June 1st cut.” In that scenario, the Eagles would save $5,000,000 (with only $1,600,000 in dead money) in 2017 if they released Kendricks, but that savings would not come until June 1. While that approach would offer added cap relief in 2017, it will affect the future salary cap, as $3,200,000 in dead money would carry over into 2018. In essence, it’s a way that teams can delay the impact of a cap hit, but the cap penalties eventually even out.
Keep your eye out for the Eagles to make some serious moves this offseason. Mychal Kendricks could be one of them.