The rich keep getting richer. Fresh off a Super Bowl championship, the Philadelphia Eagles are taking care of business right before the new league year starts. They just extended Saquon Barkley on a two-year deal, worth $41.25 million. This move helps extends the Eagles’ championship runway a bit, as well as giving them a bit more flexibility down the road. Take a look at the cap space they have freed up…
By signing Barkley to his new contract extension, the Eagles dropped Barkley’s cap hit from $13.5 million for 2025 to only $6.8 million. That $7.7 million in cap space savings could go a long way to the Eagles playing hardball on their quest to land Myles Garrett by way of a trade. Garrett no longer wants to play for the Cleveland Browns. I have a hard time seeing the Browns trading him to an AFC team.
With Garrett in his prime and ready to win, only a handful of teams in the NFC are in serious contention to land him. For as much fun as it would be to see him not play for the defending Super Bowl champions, the Eagles are strategically creating more cap space to be in the best position to do so. Garrett to the Eagles would help offset losing players like Josh Sweat and Milton Williams in 2025.
This newfound $7.7 million in cap space may not look like much, but it could make all the difference.
Right now, the Eagles have around $17.2 million in cap space, so they will have to make more room.
Saquon Barkley extension helps create a path for a Myles Garrett trade
What I think this comes down to is how badly do the Eagles want Garrett to play for them. We know how much the Birds value great defensive front-seven playmakers under general manager Howie Roseman’s watch. There are other teams in the NFC who need a star edge rusher such as the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Commanders, all of whom have more cap space.
However, the Eagles have done something none of those franchise can say that they have, which is to win a Super Bowl in the last 10 years. Green Bay last won one in 2010. It was in the very early 1990s for Washington. To date, Detroit is one of four NFL teams to never get to a Super Bowl. The other three are AFC franchises in Garrett’s Browns, the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ultimately, it is going to take a great deal of maneuvering for anyone to trade for Garrett. He is that type of a difference maker along the defensive line. While he did make the Browns a better team for being part of it, organizational dysfunction is near impossible for even the best employees to overcome. Garrett may be tired of the losing, but I am not so sure Philadelphia has enough capital.
What we see over the next week and change could indicate if Garrett is coming over to the Eagles.