How Eagles stumbled into opportunity to win Super Bowl with Carson Wentz

One sequence unfolding differently would have made the Eagles’ recently completed contract negotiations with quarterback Carson Wentz more difficult. Instead, Philadelphia has stumbled into a great opportunity. Let's review.

In December 2017, Wentz suffered torn knee ligaments against the Los Angeles Rams. If he had remained healthy, he probably would have been named NFL MVP and thus easily in position to eclipse Seattle QB Russell Wilson’s record $35 million-per-year extension. A back injury ended Wentz's 2018 season early.

NFL teams saw the new quarterback market’s first test run fail, with the landscape-reshaping contracts –- 2018 deals for Kirk Cousins, Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers -– not producing postseason berths. That those quarterback failed to pay immediate dividends does not matter; they changed NFL roster math. The Seahawks dealt with the new reality in April with Wilson; the Cowboys are navigating it with Dak Prescott; the Rams (Jared Goff) and Chiefs (Patrick Mahomes) will deal with massive starting QB contracts in 2020.

The Eagles cannot be certain their franchise centerpiece will hold up long term, but the events of the past two seasons gave them a shortcut. Wentz’s four-year, $128 million deal (in new money, making him the NFL's fifth $30 million-per-year passer and fourth-highest-paid player) may look like another contract that will limit a team from building a championship-level roster. But the injuries the former No. 2 overall pick suffered took him off track to secure the kind of money the Chiefs' Mahomes will receive.

This discount ($25.6M on average, when the agreement's first two years are included) makes the Eagles perhaps the top consideration when projecting which franchise will be the first to turn a top-market, modern-era quarterback contract into a Super Bowl championship.

Agents for the Rodgers-Ryan-Cousins-Matthew Stafford group took quarterback salaries to a place more in line with the position’s immense value. This all happened in the two years since the Raiders' Derek Carr became the NFL's first $25 million player. Between the time Rodgers signed his previous contract ($22 million average annual value) in April 2013 and Carr’s 2017 re-up, salaries stagnated –- despite the cap rising roughly $10 million annually in that time. It took 50 months for the top quarterback salary to rise by $3 million. Since Carr’s deal 24 months ago, a $10 million-average annual value spike occurred.

Even before this rapid market correction, teams struggled to assemble rosters around well-paid passers. Rookie QB contracts provided the foundation for Super Bowl-winning rosters of the Ravens, Eagles and Seahawks. Under the 2011 CBA, only the 2013 Broncos and 2016 Falcons reached Super Bowls with their quarterback’s salary comprising more than 14 percent of that year’s cap. Wilson’s new-money average represents close to 19 percent of the current cap; even his total average ($33 million) comes in at 17.6 percent. Passers seeking entry to this financial stratosphere will make team-building more challenging.

However, Wentz’s complex deal appears back-loaded. It will account for $27 million on Philadelphia’s cap between 2019 and 2020. By the time the deal hits the new-money years, the salary cap ($188.2 million in 2019) may be north of $210 million. (The next CBA, due before the 2021 season, may push this pact further into the team-friendly sector.) Wentz’s $66 million in full guarantees are well behind what Ryan, Cousins and Rodgers secured.

If Philadelphia’s 26-year-old passer can stay relatively healthy, a notable gamble due to an injury history that dates to a broken wrist during his final season at North Dakota State, this will benefit the Eagles. This is a league, you may notice, that has yet to figure how to construct a title contender around a top-tier QB contract. It will take a premier general manager to do that; the Eagles employ one.

Since being reinstalled as the Eagles’ top decision-maker after Chip Kelly’s disastrous 2015 in charge, Howie Roseman showed he can design a championship team. He represents a major reason the Eagles may crack the franchise-quarterback salary code.

The 43-year-old executive assembled a roster so talented it became the first in 27 years to win a Super Bowl with its backup quarterback. That blueprint centered on Wentz’s rookie deal and required a stunning Nick Foles playoff run. Roseman also has locked up the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII core for the future. Offensive tackle Lane Johnson, center Jason Kelce, guard Brandon Brooks, receiver Alshon Jeffery, tight end Zach Ertz, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, defensive end Brandon Graham and linebacker Nigel Bradham are signed through at least 2021.

Beyond the extensions, the Eagles are one of the best at making good trades. Roseman dealt a first-round pick to land Wentz but added one in flipping Sam Bradford months later. He traded mid-round choices for rookie-deal players Ronald Darby and Jay Ajayi -– each was essential in Super Bowl LII. Also, Roseman signed Jeffery to a one-year agreement in 2017 and used the exclusive negotiating window to extend him at what became a mid-level cost (four years, $52.25 million). Earlier this year, the Eagles snagged perennial linebacker starter Zach Brown for $1.5 million.

Led by Roseman, Philadelphia's front office built the Eagles into maybe the NFC’s deepest team. The NFL is not conducive to that happening with a high-end quarterback contract on the books. Projected to hold barely $5 million in 2020 cap space, the Eagles will have to make some adjustments next year. But they were in cap hell this year and still added defensive tackle Malik Jackson and wide receiver DeSean Jackson. The Eagles are in an unusually strong position.

Such a status would not have been possible had Wentz been more durable. An MVP free from injury concerns would have cost an astronomical amount. It will instead be the Chiefs tasked with transforming the NFL salary landscape while the Eagles will have an easier time complementing their top investment.

The combination of a still-high Wentz ceiling, a proven roster, and Roseman establishes the Eagles as one of the cornerstone teams exiting this decade. Their fourth-year quarterback justifying this expense will make them a perennial power.