Day 1 of NFL free agency was tough to watch as an Eagles fan.

Jaelen Phillips left for a four-year, $120M deal with the Carolina Panthers.

Nakobe Dean walked to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Reed Blakenship headed to the Houston Texans.

Three starters on one of the best defenses in the NFL departed. In a vacuum, no departure is shocking. It wasn’t hard to imagine all three leaving this offseason. But seeing all three walk at the same time does highlight something we have to accept here right now, a reality not true in every NFL city.

The Eagles have salary cap issues.

They are up against it. They don’t have a ton to spend. Some of that is for good reason: The team has picked and chose who to invest in off a team of excellent talent. When a front office assembles a team as great and deep as the 2024 Eagles, hard decisions have to be made eventually. The last two free agency periods are proof of that.

The other thing to factor in: If—or when—the Eagles trade away A.J. Brown over the next couple days or during the NFL Draft, the team will have an extra $20M in cap charges hit the books.

Howie Roseman is a cap wizard. But that doesn’t make him a magician. The Eagles are up against it, with Brown’s reality hovering over it all.

Come on out to Birds Town Hall tomorrow (Wednesday, March 11) at MaGerk’s in Horsham!

Ultimately, I believe the Eagles made the right call letting Phillips walk for that number.

Here’s what I learned from the Jordan Davis contract, and what I think the Eagles are telling us.

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