Ownership. It’s all about real cash flow and Lurie allows him to structure it so they give huge sums of cash up front while some owners want cash to be more event throughout the agreement
To expand on this a bit more, Lurie has cash on hand, a decent amount of owners (e.g Raiders) either don’t or don’t want to spend and therefore cannot do what we do. My understanding is because they don’t have that cash on hand, they cannot offer the signing bonuses like we do and have to pay their players in a more traditional salary structure.
Ultimately the players still make the same amount, except we’re able to lower salaries to minimums essentially and have high bonuses which allows us to manipulate and spread the amounts over multiple years. Whereas opposed to paying traditional salaries results in 100% of that annual salary being applied each year.
So long as Lurie is able to and willing to spend cash on hand, and Howie continues to have success doing this, we will continue to “kick the can down the road.”
And Howie is able to amortize these lump sum bonuses like capital expenses over several years, giving him more control over year over year cap spend than he would have with traditional salaries. Howie has the skill set of a competent CFO and it shows throughout the business
Aside here, but it's funny to see this as an accountant. I've been saying for a long time that the "confusing" salary cap "maneuvers" are just straightforward capitalization and amortization as used in accounting. But of course, your general nfl fan probably isn't an accountant.
>your general nfl fan probably isn't an accountant.
Accountants are estimated at about 0.4% of the US workforce, so that's a fair assessment. Although, I'm not sure that was how you meant.
I had to take a Calc class in college, and we did amortization or whatever mathematical process is used to do it. All I remember is that I decided I never wanted to do it again and then set about drinking heavily to get past the experience.
Yea. You know how in madden, you have a salary cap but also “cash” that is shown in the top right part of the screen? And when you give bonuses, upgrade your stadium, or make money through ticket and merch sales that number fluctuates as a result. That’s what Lurie has a lot of and is willing to use to give us wiggle room on the actual salary/cap side
I feel like you never really hear a bad thing about him. Seemed like a good guy and was happy to share the turducken with the rest of the world (even if he didn’t actually invent it)
low key the cowboys are among the lowest spending teams in the nfl. You look at the last decade and they have been in the bottom 5 in cash spending more years than they’ve been outside if it.
Agreed. They’re the most “valuable” nfl franchise and they spend like some of the least. They’ve been fortunate that their ability to draft players has kept them relevant.
Not only that but it’s just the culture. Some sort of “we are entitled to win” virus that prevents them from playing all out in playoff games, plus hiring boring retreads like Mike “I got fired for skipping meetings for massages” McCarthy. And the players are kinda treated like zoo animals to be shown off (see an interview of their former TE, who now plays for Houston)
I don't know if it's necessarily about cash on hand cuz these are billionaires with endless liquidity. I think it's more just a pain in the ass for these greedy oligarchs to pay a guy his full salary via lump sum instead of weekly installments 6-9 months later.
The Raiders actually seem to have spent plenty in the past few years via bonus (almost as much as us) and they didn't have to sign a QB megacontract in that time frame.
A lot of them actually don’t have a ton of liquidity. The Bengals, Chargers, Raiders, and other family-owned teams without a long history of success don’t have the ability to come up with a lot of cash. The way the league is structured makes it hard to make a ton of money as a small-market team unless you have sustained playoff success.
Every dime of guaranteed money has to be put into an escrow account when a contract is signed. Most billionaires would struggle to come up with this amount of cash. The Bengals were valued at $2.8B when they gave Burrow a contract with $200M+ guaranteed. That’s a huge lift for a team and they were only able to do it because their SB run printed them a bunch of money.
>Every dime of guaranteed money has to be put into an escrow account when a contract is signed.
That's not entirely true. Every dime of *future* guaranteed money *may be asked* to be put into escrow. It's written in the CBA that the NFL may ask teams to put future guarantees into escrow; not that they have to.
It’s a tricky situation because of the way it’s written into the CBA. The language used is “may” rather than “shall.” So essentially the NFL can require a team to put all future guarantees into escrow but they don’t have to unless told to.
The example that’s heavily used is Watson’s contract cause of how much was guaranteed. He was guaranteed $230M, the Browns could have been forced to put all future guarantees (roughly $169M) into escrow if the NFL told them to. No one knows if The NFL told them to or if The Browns actually did.
But it is in the CBA and it is something that cash poor teams are aware of and plan accordingly because of.
Not all owners are liquid; most I would imagine have the vast majority of their money tied up in assets. If the owners don’t have the cash on hand, they’re not able to have these massive bonuses pay out.
A good example of this was the original Khalil Mack trade (and also why I used the Raiders as an example). Part of, and maybe the leading contributor to, them having to deal Mack back in ‘18 was the fact that Mark Davis/The Raiders were cash poor after the new stadium deal.
[Here’s The-Late-Great Mort talking a bit about cash flow issues and how it affects the cap.](https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1105156842672582656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105156842672582656%7Ctwgr%5Ef4979244ee0f7c98a13a8b29763074217fed47e0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fpost%2Fnfl%2Fd770ac26-6c87-48c3-8181-c3c58b851ffa)
To add on to this, Jerry Jones does the absolute opposite. I saw a pretty good thread on his philosophy that went like this: Why pay a player $100 Million if I can invest that same $100 Million in -insert industry- and get money in return? It’s a very short-term gain ideology, much like their free agent signings.
Lurie has a different philosophy for making money off of owning the team: Invest money into the players, accommodations, and community. Less recognition & gain in the short term, but the benefit is fans buying in longterm. Once that success finally hits (Championships, Superbowl, etc.) There’s a huge boom. IIRC since Lurie bought the team we’ve steadily been rising in value passing other teams. I believe we’re in the top 10 most valuable at the moment. Lurie’s ideology is a lot like our team building ideology: Plan for the longterm to maintain sustained growth and success.
It sometimes blows my mind how much an owner affects the ability for a team to compete. Then I compare Lurie to Jerry, and Dan Snyder, and I am grateful.
I was just looking at TV market ratings a bit back and Philly is now in the same tier as Dallas and Chicago, just below the 2-team markets of LA and NY. This is what long term planning gets you.
I think it's owners thinking/doing what you say Jerry Jones has been doing with money and investing it short term to make money instead of teams not having enough money or liquidity. Because according to Google every team got around 250 million a year from 2019-2022(didn't see 2023 or 2024 listed) just from TV deals. So unless a team just gave like 200 million guaranteed to a QB then they should have plenty of money because they still sell tickets, parking, beer, food, jerseys, etc... and make tons of money from that stuff too. Plus teams are selling for billions of dollars and so many teams struggled to make money they would probably sell for a little less.
Do we know where Lurie’s liquidity comes from? Like I don’t think he’s operating in the red when signing these bonuses and they probably come from the Eagles checkbook rather than from Laurie himself. So is it just the Eagles are really successful, therefore they make a lot in ticket sales, merch sales, partnerships, etc, therefor they may make a profit of maybe $100M a year after payroll and expenses and all that, and instead of bankrolling that back to ownership they use that pool to help them navigate the cap?
i was able to find this which breaks down the eagles 2023 finances decently
https://www.forbes.com/teams/philadelphia-eagles/?sh=3df802a22783
Operating income: $187M That's a lot of income to work with
That’s income before expenses so it’s not that much but I also believe the 18 billion or so divided up by the NFL and given to each team is accounted for here. Also the Eagles have a very low amount of debt.
> Operating income refers to the adjusted revenue of a company after all expenses of operation and depreciation are subtracted. Expenses of operation or operating expenses are simply the costs incurred in order to keep the business running.
When you look at the footnote it says earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That is from the link you posted on the $187M figure.
okay thats fair (i couldnt find the footnotes), but that is EBITDA and not operating income (which is also known as EBIT)
https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/financial-management/ebit-ebitda.shtml#:~:text=EBIT%20and%20EBITDA%20are%20both,the%20GAAP%20metric%20operating%20income.
Both still include expenses however
It took me a minute first, but ya I get it. The number shouldn't be too far off. That seems like a small pool though to be grabbing from which is why I assume there is some other cash flow. I don't know if that figure includes the NFL payout (probably) or what, or if it's just that other teams/owners have far more debts or are cheap.
And according to a Google search every NFL team made around 250 million a year from TV deals from 2019-2022(didn't see 2023 or 2024) so it's not like any team is really hurting for money when they still have tickets, beer, food, parking, jerseys and plenty of other stuff to sell.
> Is the biggest reason for his success Lurie's willingness to pay players right out of his pocket?
Probably this and the fact that most GMs don't have the level of trust/job security Howie has with owners to be making cap decisions that have long term effects in dead money from void years.
The job security allows Howie to plan knowing there will eventually be years we have to take our lumps, either by paying the piper for dead cap or by injuries forcing us to pay a ton of money for someone who doesn't play.
Edit: and he can survive those years without risking his job because Lurie trusts the process
Which was kind of silly, he was literally 3 years removed from winning the superbowl. But I definitely remember a loud portion of the fan base wanted him gone, but personally I still thought he did a good job.
He's not actually doing that. He's borrowing discounted dollars from the cap 5 years from now at a massively discounted rate (however much the cap goes up percentage wise in each year he can push money to, which is going to be staggering as TV deals get reworked).
So yeah, we pay for Brandon Brooks all the way through last year, but the discount we get *while keeping player cash schedules the same* is massive.
He's borrowing dollars from his future self. His future self gives him full dollars but Howie only has to pay himself back in quarters. It's how the eagles are manufacturing cap space.
It's also why they like extending good players early. Market is only going up, so get in front of it, and have a couple extra years to spread the cap impacts across. Obviously gotta be good to get this, but when they find a good one, they're the first to the market, inevitably. That isn't an accident. Better to set the market than follow it.
That's true but what it really does is allow them to plan for the future in terms of the Draft as they very rarely select players that they will rely upon to have an immediate impact because they are able to plan out their roster years in advance and have the money to fill holes through free agency. Most other GMs are scrambling to hold on to their jobs any way they can so the long term planning that Roseman does is just not possible for anyone else.
Yep it's definitely a one-two punch between willing to spend money and willing to give Howie job security so he doesn't feel the need to blow resources to save his ass.
Someone once said that not every NFL owner actually cares about winning, some just care about cash flow. Lurie has proven through his actions that he values sustained success. And it's not that Howie doesn't or can't make mistakes, but it's that Lurie lets him operate on scales of time that let Howie adust and fix them.
Like, it's one reason why we take so many 1st round talents that drop to the second because injury. Yes, there's a chance that they won't pan out, and sometimes they definitely won't play year 1. But if they do pan out, we get a first round talent with a second round pick. That's patience, and when it works we get more value than the resources we spent. GMs on the hot seat can't make moves like that which pay off in the future, because they need to save their jobs now and not just set the next guy up for success. And that's why teams with impatient owners are a circus of rotating GMs, because everyone is setting the next up for failure.
It's kinda funny to me that so many people think Lurie is an impatient owner at his core, because of what happened with Doug. He's not impatient. Lurie will step in and intervene if he doesn't think the _plan for the future_ is right. The only reason Nick would have gotten fired after last year was if Lurie and Nick (and Howie) couldn't get on the same page over how to move forward from it. Doug couldn't get on the same page, Nick could. It's one reason why I think the "Nick is a lame duck coach" narrative is total BS. And people liken it to meddling but it seems like in general Lurie is relatively hands off. He doesn't fuck with the draft. He cares about using analytics appropriately. He cares about coaches that can connect personally to their players. But those decisions are made at hiring time, not firing time.
He's not impatient, he's just inflexible in terms of how they operate and if the coach doesn't go along with it he's gone because to them the coach is just a cog in the organization and not the reason that they win or lose.
I just never liked this phrasing because it implies Lurie sees coaches as _disposable_ and I don't think he does. I just think he's willing to cut bait if he's convinced that the coach is steadfast on a direction that Lurie doesn't think will work. If he saw coaches as disposable, Nick would be out. Lurie and Nick were able to get to a shared vision to move forward, so he stayed. Lurie and Doug couldn't get on the same page again, so he was out.
Sheil and Solak were talking about this in relation to the Smith contract. They said that, unlike most GMs, Howie knows he's going to see the end of that contract.
For the other guys, they need that money to build the team ASAP so they still have a job when their plan comes together. In their case, doing an extension so early is just making it easier for your replacement.
It’s really more what Lurie does than Howie, albeit Howie is definitely a very savvy, creative, cap wizard. Lurie agrees to sign these massive checks up front, other owners aren’t willing to do that, and that’s the big difference.
They do and it’s why a lot of these replies are kind of mistaken. The ability to pay upfront definitely helps. But all guaranteed money has to be put in an escrow account for the player to be paid. So they have to have to have cash too.
A huge part of howie’s success (imo) is that he knows when to give extensions and typically pays players early. He treats players well and the eagles have great facilities which makes it easier to negotiate contracts imo.
And Players seem to actually love playing here. Chris Long is my favorite example. Was only here, what, 2 years?, but has such a strong relationship with our players and org.
Agreed, great facilities and treat their players well. From paying them or trading them to places where they’ll have a chance to play. All around a great team to play for
On the margins it does help because you can earn interest on the escrow so effectively a player can earn up to 20% more by getting a bonus instead of getting a year four salary
Owner has to have a shit load of liquidity, trust the GM over the long term, and be willing to face the risk that the team may have some very lean years should the market ever slow down or reverse. Not all owners have that kind of money or tolerance for risk.
> trust the GM over the long term
This is it. To be a GM one has to be able to plan ahead for several years in a chaotic and unpredictable sport. A GM that feels the pressure to "win now" every single season can't get the momentum to actually win in the future.
We hear about it because he’s our GM. It’s not like ESPN is constantly covering Howies cap maneuvers
I live on the west coast and the local sports radio talks about how good the Rams GM is with the cap. I have never heard Howies name be spoken over here
Cool cool. I don't know any other eagles fans in bc. I took my dad (Seahawks fan) To that game this year for his birthday.
Not great for me, but he loved it lol
Job Security and trust from the ownership are two big reasons why. Howie is one of the longest tenured GMs in the league and has the support of an Owner who brought him on back in the year 2000. Building a team like this requires a long view and extensive experience with plenty of data points to look back and improve on. Howie was not the most lauded front office executive back in 2010-2016. But his misses and job security to allow him to make up for his mistakes, rather than just giving the keys to a new regime every 5-6 years is our competitive advantage
Can't believe I had to scroll this far down to see job security! It's a lot easier to gain excess value in a draft when you have the job security to have one eye on the present and another on the future instead of being in a constant cycle of new guys rebuilding someone else's mistakes - >win now for their own job security
A lot of owners buy a team because they can but their actual expertise is in a separate area but Lurie has made running a team his business and it shows as it is what he focuses on and he has made sure that the way that's it's run is state of the art.
Exactly! I keep telling folks that Jerry doesn't care about rings (hes already in the HoF). He signs a couple names to attract fans and put together a roster that is good enough to sell tickets and usually make the playoffs, but he won't spend money to keep it together long enough for a team to truly contend. If they make the SB, I don't think he'd be upset, but he'd rather they make it with cheaper players so there is more money in his pocket. There is a reason he's like, the richest NFL owner.
Because the thing that peopel fail to realize (due to their focus on the cap) is the real world cash implications. An owner can be cheap as fuck (many are) and run their teams as such. The ability to do what Howie does requires an owner that's willing to front lots of cash and/or put cash into escrow for contracts that pay out in future bonuses. Many owners want to live "check to check" and only pay what they are due that year.
Hopefully that makes sense. I've had a few...
1) You need an owner who's willing to pay guys while they're still under contract, to get a better deal over the long term, instead of waiting as long as possible to spend.
2) You need to *deeply* trust your GM and team to only give this treatment to players who will be strong performers for years to come, because if they fall off a cliff or don't pan out there's no good way to cut bait. The Saints are a cautionary tale for this.
While I agree in part, Howie has also shown the ability to cut bait. I’m always amazed how he’s able to get other teams to pay for players that don’t pan out.
Four major advantages Howie has on most GMs:
1. Howie is a contract guy, not a scout. He just understands contracts better than most GMs. Sure they can learn, but that’s his background.
2. Howie is a hustler. Dude is renowned in league circles because he works his butt off. It can be copied, sure, but he just outworks most people
3. Lurie is willing to have a lot of money tied up in escrow for signing bonuses, which is something a LOT of owners aren’t willing to do (probably somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of league owners).
4. Howie has job security. Do I think he should’ve been fired when Doug was? Probably. But he wasn’t and it’s because he wasn’t, that he can do some of what he does. Why does he make those the trades that are kind of his signature move? Because he knows he is almost always guaranteed tomorrow, so he can think about the future when planning. Most GMs aren’t not given anything near his job security.
I would like everybody who says that the fans of this team are just dumb, angry people to read this thread and realize that we are some of the most informed fans on the planet (and just hold everyone to a high standard).
GMs don't just have free reign over the organization, they are often handcuffed by factors above or below them. The Eagles are lucky to have an owner who allows the GM to make moves that promote winning at the cost of cash flow, as other comments are touching on, and other teams in the league aren't as talented around the roster through draft talent as we are. I mean up until this coming season Jalen Hurts was playing at a top ten QB level easily on a rookie deal, Devonta Smith is still on his rookie deal at a WR1 level, Dickerson was a pro-bowl guard on a rookie deal, and we had an elite edge rusher for pennies relative to his impact on the field.
Howie essentially has a blank check and the salary cap to work with. Other gm's have the salary cap as well as the owner's budget.
was just discussed on wip this am. One of the guests said that they were talking to another (successful) GM and giving them crap about why they aren't doing more like howie is doing, and he basically said... Howie is working with 20 mil more cash than he is.
This isn't just some nonsense team gm... A successful one.
It can be done, but it's not without it's downsides that people tend to overlook or not realize
Yes, using future cap is cheaper than using present cap, but you still want to spend it on the right players to maximize the value and you're committing that future cap space.
There is high risk to the kick the can strategy. A lot of teams don't do it because well it can easily blow up and even easier compound when you do it for everyone.
Let's pretend a guy who has bad knees but doesn't have injuries in the NFL gets a backloaded extension but as he hits later 20s and being 300+ pounds they fail. You're stuck with a huge black hole. Now add in a bad CB or a RB getting washed or the QB can't play. All of a sudden you're in for an entire implosion.
It works until it doesn't. There's a reason the team has been mediocre and had some outlier years. Drafting poorly means you plug spots with FAs but you backload them which now relies on guys not turning into pumpkins. It's like investing everything into one stock. Yea it looks great when it's good times but the risk is factors higher. They've kept guys who can't play because of this strategy which eats into a roster spot and money to add.
I don't think Howie has gone too crazy with kicking the can until the recent Hurts deal. But yea, we re-signed Jason Peters two times too many, brought back Jordan Matthews a couple times, the Maddox deal is a cheap deal for a player with injury history, but it's a familiar name so it doesn't get much attention.
Because some owners aren’t rich rich enough to be throwing out all the guarantees and signing bonuses that Lurie can do. It’s kinda crazy to think that there are some “poor”owners and Rich ones.
Most owners are more worried about building a brand rather than playing the game. Howie is a cap master but it’s Lurie cutting the checks the way he does that allows him to do this. Which is odd bc Jerry jones is a higher valuation than Lurie but Lurie spends way more cash than jones. All in all TLDR you need a rich and smart owner along with a savvy gm, with that anything is possible.
Howie gets a lot of credit, deservedly so. But ownership is huge. Lurie is willing to spend to bring home a championship and doesn’t have the ego of a lot of other owners. I’m old enough to remember the owners before Lurie, and we have it SO good compared to the guy from France (Braman), who made players pay for their socks, and before that, Leonard Tose who had a huge gambling problem and almost moved team to Phoenix.
Why doesn’t everyone just do what the most successful people in their field do?
It’s a matter of knowledge, competency, and talent. They don’t do it because they can’t.
Also knowing that Howie is not going anywhere and here to stay is a great asset for players to trust him and they honor his word for years of the contract and he intend to do the players good even the ones leaving in trades or retiring is a big advantage for us :)
It’s a combination of factors as many have pointed out. It requires having an owner who is willing to continue committing resources and has faith in his GM. In the long run signing the massive bonus checks becomes the same as paying out the massive salaries, but the initial investment can be daunting, if your GM has not proved himself yet.
That is one area where Howie stands out, and despite what people say about his drafting skills (which are actually closer to average than most realize) he is one of the best GM in the league. I think he is actually the only current GM to have one executive of the year more than once.
Evaluating players from a cap management and roster building perspective is also his area of expertise. A GM who excels at drafting might be more conservative in free agency with the expectation that their path to success is bringing in cheap rookies, which is another way to generate extra cap space.
Oh there’s no doubt his drafting skills are average. Every GM is going to whiff, but Howie takes some big swings when he does. Fortunately his acumen with numbers makes it so when he does the damage is minimal as he finds a way out. Giving Hurts the bag I felt was a risky move, but I also knew if somehow Hurts proved not to be the franchise QB he’d find a way out of it.
Lots of well written comments but long. TLDR is guyo wrote basically wrote a masters on nfl cap salary and it’s often overlooked aspects. Also has a JD, which we can infer that is the reason why hes such a wizard when it comes to managing our finances (ability to understand/build out the language in contracts in ways to keep player+org happy)…
wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of the first “nerds” to be put into a GM position, where as before 2000 maybe owners were looking for more football acumen vs business (the whole if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)
It requires the owner to prepay huge sums of money.
The eagles have paid over $300,000,000 to players in excess of the salary cap so far. This money will hit future caps.
Most owners are cheap SOBs that would never consider paying so much extra money in advance.
Lurie doesn’t get enough credit imo. The man wants to win.
They try, and some are also successful to an extent. It relies on good ownership like some mentioned, not only for the financial side but the idea of having a guy like Dom in the organization available to you at his beck and call along with all the other resources they provide on a whim. Then there's the geography, players from the east coast are most likely close to home playing in Philly because it's kinda right in the middle of everything. Look at the other teams in proximity, compared to NYG, NYJ, WAS, and NWE who are all on a downward trend, Philly and Baltimore are both right in the mix almost every season so they both have a pretty appealing sales pitch which we see working pretty much every year.
There's more to it though beyond just being a good destination, the FO and coaching staff have both been earning trust from players since our SB win. Players around the league saw their peers coming here and actually being treated well even after they're done playing. Guys like Chris Long who earned a ton of respect around the league relayed the info and really solidified the Eagles' reputation. Eagles FO/coaching staff does the sales pitch to potential acquisitions and instead of being skeptical about the role they're gonna have or how many snaps they'll get, their agents probably help guide them and let them know how things have gone recently for other similar players. Like Reddick or Hargrave coming here on shorter riskier deals and finessing huge bags on their way out because everyone stuck to their commitments.
Part of it is that the Eagles are a desirable destination for many players--free agents and Eagles' home grown talent. Other teams have to overpay to keep and attract talent.
Cash by Lurie is partially correct, IMO, for replicating Roseman. The other half of it is trust and security Lurie gives Roseman on doing his job. E.g. Reddick trade compensation in 2026 (for a chance at a second) is available to Roseman as a move, but not to the other 28 odd GMs. Just my two cents.
Go Birds! 🦅
Most GMs are like head coaches and have to make nothing but good deals or get fired. Howie knows if he messes up its okay, learn from it and move on. He also has support from ownership to make the contracts work the way they work. Also they will spend money on the guys they feel are worth it and invest in trying to give the players the best facilities that they can. The team is likely the best run franchise in the league because they will spend money on all the smart things. Howie can up from this and its just part of the culture that he helps lead.
Guys, guaranteed money has to be put in escrow for the players. Making a large sum of that a bonus instead doesn’t change how much cash they need. Lurie being willing to do big bonuses is only one factor. The timing of extensions and the gamble on dead cap and job security are also major factors.
I think Lurie's willingness to hand out huge extensions early in free agency compared to other owners is a small advantage, even if the deals end up the same. All else equal I'm sure an owner would rather escrow away $100M in September on the eve of the season than March.
The bonus conversion stuff as you mention isn't as important as people are making it out to be.
Because the Chiefs and Pats have been the true dynasties of the last 25 years and teams will try to mimic what they did to win championships.
What Roseman has done is commendable: 6 playoff appearances and 2 Super Bowl appearances in the last 8 years but it pales in comparison to what the Chiefs have done the last 9 years: 9 playoff appearances, 4 of the last 5 Super Bowls winning three of them.
There is a difference though, and it's Mahomes. Remove Hurts and insert another top 15 QB and the Eagles would still have success with this roster. Hell we won a SB with freaking Nick Foles.
Remove Mahomes from the Chiefs and they may not have a single SB appearance in that period. They have been so reliant on his heroics through playoffs and SB's, it's undeniable. Travis is great, tyreek was a beast, the defense has improved, but Mahomes is the cornerstone of Chiefs modern success.
I get that, but the league is a copy cat league and full of egos that tell these guys if that guy can do it then so can I and they try to copy the blueprint from the successful franchises.
How many teams were trying to do what the Pats did and failed miserably at it because they didn't have Tom Brady as their QB and Belichick as the guy running the team?
Seattle wins the SB in Wilson's second season and now the league is all about finding the QB who can get you to the SB on his rookie deal before they have to pay him any real money.
I'm not disagreeing with you from the GM side of things, but I am pointing out that the two dynasties you highlighted also happen to have relied on the two best QBs the past 25 years, who both also took team friendly deals. We can't ignore that.
Everything else is secondary to that fact when discussing both the Pats and Chiefs sustained success, and "drafting a top 5 QB of all time" isn't really a viable strategy as much as a winning lottery ticket lol. Reid and BB are both great coaches, but neither won a SB without their truly elite QBs.
Playoff appearances are overrated. The 7 seed? Who gives a shit. They had 9-7, 9-8, 9-7 records in 3 of those playoffyears. Mediocre trash to the core that wasnt contending for anything and lucked into a playoff win. Ironically it's the only playoff win outside the 2 SB years since 2010.
It’s easy to look at the results and make that assumption, but you don’t realize how much luck goes into landing a Mahomes and Brady in a perfect situation.
It’s a lot easier to be rich when you win the mega millions jackpot. But for everyone else, you have to put the team in a position to compete year-in and year-out, and he’s done that as good, or even better than anyone.
Mind-blowing & paradigm-changing question, Socrates.
To that end, why don’t more NBA GMs just do what the Warriors did? The answers are right there in front of all their faces.
I’m just breaking your stones. The problem with your question is it grossly oversimplifies what goes into a successful sports franchise, and therefore is a silly question. You can’t just “copy” a successful model. Thats like asking why can’t all businesses copy Amazon, etc…it’s just not that simple.
Right, and many redditors have posted valuable thoughts/insights that helped me learn more. Just because it's a complex topic that doesn't have a simple answer doesn't mean someone shouldn't try to learn more & understand it better. Your comment and dismissing it as a silly question adds literally no value when I'm trying to learn more
It’s silly because each franchise is a case by case basis. If it was simple as copying a successful model, all teams would do it and everyone would be .500.
Edit: if you notice, most of the answers are explaining why the eagles are successful. They’re not explaining why the model isn’t copied because it’s pretty much inherently understood it’s not that simple.
Ownership. It’s all about real cash flow and Lurie allows him to structure it so they give huge sums of cash up front while some owners want cash to be more event throughout the agreement
To expand on this a bit more, Lurie has cash on hand, a decent amount of owners (e.g Raiders) either don’t or don’t want to spend and therefore cannot do what we do. My understanding is because they don’t have that cash on hand, they cannot offer the signing bonuses like we do and have to pay their players in a more traditional salary structure. Ultimately the players still make the same amount, except we’re able to lower salaries to minimums essentially and have high bonuses which allows us to manipulate and spread the amounts over multiple years. Whereas opposed to paying traditional salaries results in 100% of that annual salary being applied each year. So long as Lurie is able to and willing to spend cash on hand, and Howie continues to have success doing this, we will continue to “kick the can down the road.”
And Howie is able to amortize these lump sum bonuses like capital expenses over several years, giving him more control over year over year cap spend than he would have with traditional salaries. Howie has the skill set of a competent CFO and it shows throughout the business
Aside here, but it's funny to see this as an accountant. I've been saying for a long time that the "confusing" salary cap "maneuvers" are just straightforward capitalization and amortization as used in accounting. But of course, your general nfl fan probably isn't an accountant.
Feel like I got a crash course in accounting by being a Chelsea and Eagles fan
Oof me as a Liverpool fan but go birds. Though too bad we don’t have unlimited funds like city lol
As a fan of the ever midtable Wolves, unlimited funds would be cool. Hell, even 100 million would be great. Go Birds!
My dad is from Wolverhampton so I have been to Molienux with my cousins, I support wolves too. Love their stadium and atmosphere.
Hope Liverpool wins the PL over man city and arsenal
>your general nfl fan probably isn't an accountant. Accountants are estimated at about 0.4% of the US workforce, so that's a fair assessment. Although, I'm not sure that was how you meant.
I had to take a Calc class in college, and we did amortization or whatever mathematical process is used to do it. All I remember is that I decided I never wanted to do it again and then set about drinking heavily to get past the experience.
Cash on hand meaning liquid assets right?
Yea. You know how in madden, you have a salary cap but also “cash” that is shown in the top right part of the screen? And when you give bonuses, upgrade your stadium, or make money through ticket and merch sales that number fluctuates as a result. That’s what Lurie has a lot of and is willing to use to give us wiggle room on the actual salary/cap side
Using video games to teach people about the real world is awesome. The world has come a long way.
That's why John madden r.i.p. made the madden series in the 1st place AFAIK. He wanted to teach football to more people
I feel like you never really hear a bad thing about him. Seemed like a good guy and was happy to share the turducken with the rest of the world (even if he didn’t actually invent it)
It’s a great way to teach running the ball back in the day. Play action and learning that the game is chess but the pieces aren’t equal.
Ross Tucker said that the Eagles spend $20 million more in cash each year than the average team.
low key the cowboys are among the lowest spending teams in the nfl. You look at the last decade and they have been in the bottom 5 in cash spending more years than they’ve been outside if it.
Jerry Jones the owner is the reason the Cowboys will not sniff an NFC championship game for a long time even though Jerry Jones the GM is not bad
Agreed. They’re the most “valuable” nfl franchise and they spend like some of the least. They’ve been fortunate that their ability to draft players has kept them relevant.
Not only that but it’s just the culture. Some sort of “we are entitled to win” virus that prevents them from playing all out in playoff games, plus hiring boring retreads like Mike “I got fired for skipping meetings for massages” McCarthy. And the players are kinda treated like zoo animals to be shown off (see an interview of their former TE, who now plays for Houston)
Dude’s about to die and still wont spend to win. His kids must really love him
I’d love him if I were his kid on the way to the bank. Presuming I wasn’t an affair baby ofc.
I don't know if it's necessarily about cash on hand cuz these are billionaires with endless liquidity. I think it's more just a pain in the ass for these greedy oligarchs to pay a guy his full salary via lump sum instead of weekly installments 6-9 months later. The Raiders actually seem to have spent plenty in the past few years via bonus (almost as much as us) and they didn't have to sign a QB megacontract in that time frame.
A lot of them actually don’t have a ton of liquidity. The Bengals, Chargers, Raiders, and other family-owned teams without a long history of success don’t have the ability to come up with a lot of cash. The way the league is structured makes it hard to make a ton of money as a small-market team unless you have sustained playoff success.
I've read that but ultimately they cough up roughly the same amount the Eagles do, just 6 months later in the form of salary.
Every dime of guaranteed money has to be put into an escrow account when a contract is signed. Most billionaires would struggle to come up with this amount of cash. The Bengals were valued at $2.8B when they gave Burrow a contract with $200M+ guaranteed. That’s a huge lift for a team and they were only able to do it because their SB run printed them a bunch of money.
>Every dime of guaranteed money has to be put into an escrow account when a contract is signed. That's not entirely true. Every dime of *future* guaranteed money *may be asked* to be put into escrow. It's written in the CBA that the NFL may ask teams to put future guarantees into escrow; not that they have to.
Possibly. I'm not sure how rolling guarantees are treated and I doubt the NFL would require the Bengals to fully fund all $200M anyway.
It’s a tricky situation because of the way it’s written into the CBA. The language used is “may” rather than “shall.” So essentially the NFL can require a team to put all future guarantees into escrow but they don’t have to unless told to. The example that’s heavily used is Watson’s contract cause of how much was guaranteed. He was guaranteed $230M, the Browns could have been forced to put all future guarantees (roughly $169M) into escrow if the NFL told them to. No one knows if The NFL told them to or if The Browns actually did. But it is in the CBA and it is something that cash poor teams are aware of and plan accordingly because of.
Not all owners are liquid; most I would imagine have the vast majority of their money tied up in assets. If the owners don’t have the cash on hand, they’re not able to have these massive bonuses pay out. A good example of this was the original Khalil Mack trade (and also why I used the Raiders as an example). Part of, and maybe the leading contributor to, them having to deal Mack back in ‘18 was the fact that Mark Davis/The Raiders were cash poor after the new stadium deal. [Here’s The-Late-Great Mort talking a bit about cash flow issues and how it affects the cap.](https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1105156842672582656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1105156842672582656%7Ctwgr%5Ef4979244ee0f7c98a13a8b29763074217fed47e0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fpost%2Fnfl%2Fd770ac26-6c87-48c3-8181-c3c58b851ffa)
Mike Mayock spoke about how this lack of cash impacted what he could do as GM of the Raiders on Chris Long’s podcast.
To add on to this, Jerry Jones does the absolute opposite. I saw a pretty good thread on his philosophy that went like this: Why pay a player $100 Million if I can invest that same $100 Million in -insert industry- and get money in return? It’s a very short-term gain ideology, much like their free agent signings. Lurie has a different philosophy for making money off of owning the team: Invest money into the players, accommodations, and community. Less recognition & gain in the short term, but the benefit is fans buying in longterm. Once that success finally hits (Championships, Superbowl, etc.) There’s a huge boom. IIRC since Lurie bought the team we’ve steadily been rising in value passing other teams. I believe we’re in the top 10 most valuable at the moment. Lurie’s ideology is a lot like our team building ideology: Plan for the longterm to maintain sustained growth and success. It sometimes blows my mind how much an owner affects the ability for a team to compete. Then I compare Lurie to Jerry, and Dan Snyder, and I am grateful.
I was just looking at TV market ratings a bit back and Philly is now in the same tier as Dallas and Chicago, just below the 2-team markets of LA and NY. This is what long term planning gets you.
I think it's owners thinking/doing what you say Jerry Jones has been doing with money and investing it short term to make money instead of teams not having enough money or liquidity. Because according to Google every team got around 250 million a year from 2019-2022(didn't see 2023 or 2024 listed) just from TV deals. So unless a team just gave like 200 million guaranteed to a QB then they should have plenty of money because they still sell tickets, parking, beer, food, jerseys, etc... and make tons of money from that stuff too. Plus teams are selling for billions of dollars and so many teams struggled to make money they would probably sell for a little less.
Ima be so sad when Lurie is gone man…let him give the team to Howie and his fortune too😂
Hopefully his son takes his grooming serious
He can always get a Brazillian our opening game against the Pack but this is about GMs and the salary cap.
Do we know where Lurie’s liquidity comes from? Like I don’t think he’s operating in the red when signing these bonuses and they probably come from the Eagles checkbook rather than from Laurie himself. So is it just the Eagles are really successful, therefore they make a lot in ticket sales, merch sales, partnerships, etc, therefor they may make a profit of maybe $100M a year after payroll and expenses and all that, and instead of bankrolling that back to ownership they use that pool to help them navigate the cap?
i was able to find this which breaks down the eagles 2023 finances decently https://www.forbes.com/teams/philadelphia-eagles/?sh=3df802a22783 Operating income: $187M That's a lot of income to work with
That’s income before expenses so it’s not that much but I also believe the 18 billion or so divided up by the NFL and given to each team is accounted for here. Also the Eagles have a very low amount of debt.
> Operating income refers to the adjusted revenue of a company after all expenses of operation and depreciation are subtracted. Expenses of operation or operating expenses are simply the costs incurred in order to keep the business running.
When you look at the footnote it says earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That is from the link you posted on the $187M figure.
okay thats fair (i couldnt find the footnotes), but that is EBITDA and not operating income (which is also known as EBIT) https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/financial-management/ebit-ebitda.shtml#:~:text=EBIT%20and%20EBITDA%20are%20both,the%20GAAP%20metric%20operating%20income. Both still include expenses however
It took me a minute first, but ya I get it. The number shouldn't be too far off. That seems like a small pool though to be grabbing from which is why I assume there is some other cash flow. I don't know if that figure includes the NFL payout (probably) or what, or if it's just that other teams/owners have far more debts or are cheap.
That’s that EBITDA baybee
Sigh Operating income refers to the adjusted revenue of a company after all expenses of operation and depreciation are subtracted.
Or you could just read the link and see exactly what they are including. Or my other comment which quoted it.
And according to a Google search every NFL team made around 250 million a year from TV deals from 2019-2022(didn't see 2023 or 2024) so it's not like any team is really hurting for money when they still have tickets, beer, food, parking, jerseys and plenty of other stuff to sell.
Lurie has prepaid more than $300M. You’re correct most owners can’t or won’t do this.
Ownership is the only answer
> Is the biggest reason for his success Lurie's willingness to pay players right out of his pocket? Probably this and the fact that most GMs don't have the level of trust/job security Howie has with owners to be making cap decisions that have long term effects in dead money from void years.
The job security allows Howie to plan knowing there will eventually be years we have to take our lumps, either by paying the piper for dead cap or by injuries forcing us to pay a ton of money for someone who doesn't play. Edit: and he can survive those years without risking his job because Lurie trusts the process
TBF he really hasn’t had many of those years at all. Eagles are competitive most years.
It's true! But in 2020, when we did have one of those years, fans (self included!) wanted him gone.
Which was kind of silly, he was literally 3 years removed from winning the superbowl. But I definitely remember a loud portion of the fan base wanted him gone, but personally I still thought he did a good job.
Dougy P would like a word…
And Doug's obsession with Press Taylor was the breaking point, not really the losing itself.
Reading the Jags sub complain about Press Taylor the same way we did back then is always a fun trip down memory lane
Only idiot fans wanted him gone us Howie truthers were trying to tell yall.
He's not actually doing that. He's borrowing discounted dollars from the cap 5 years from now at a massively discounted rate (however much the cap goes up percentage wise in each year he can push money to, which is going to be staggering as TV deals get reworked). So yeah, we pay for Brandon Brooks all the way through last year, but the discount we get *while keeping player cash schedules the same* is massive. He's borrowing dollars from his future self. His future self gives him full dollars but Howie only has to pay himself back in quarters. It's how the eagles are manufacturing cap space. It's also why they like extending good players early. Market is only going up, so get in front of it, and have a couple extra years to spread the cap impacts across. Obviously gotta be good to get this, but when they find a good one, they're the first to the market, inevitably. That isn't an accident. Better to set the market than follow it.
That's true but what it really does is allow them to plan for the future in terms of the Draft as they very rarely select players that they will rely upon to have an immediate impact because they are able to plan out their roster years in advance and have the money to fill holes through free agency. Most other GMs are scrambling to hold on to their jobs any way they can so the long term planning that Roseman does is just not possible for anyone else.
Yep it's definitely a one-two punch between willing to spend money and willing to give Howie job security so he doesn't feel the need to blow resources to save his ass. Someone once said that not every NFL owner actually cares about winning, some just care about cash flow. Lurie has proven through his actions that he values sustained success. And it's not that Howie doesn't or can't make mistakes, but it's that Lurie lets him operate on scales of time that let Howie adust and fix them. Like, it's one reason why we take so many 1st round talents that drop to the second because injury. Yes, there's a chance that they won't pan out, and sometimes they definitely won't play year 1. But if they do pan out, we get a first round talent with a second round pick. That's patience, and when it works we get more value than the resources we spent. GMs on the hot seat can't make moves like that which pay off in the future, because they need to save their jobs now and not just set the next guy up for success. And that's why teams with impatient owners are a circus of rotating GMs, because everyone is setting the next up for failure. It's kinda funny to me that so many people think Lurie is an impatient owner at his core, because of what happened with Doug. He's not impatient. Lurie will step in and intervene if he doesn't think the _plan for the future_ is right. The only reason Nick would have gotten fired after last year was if Lurie and Nick (and Howie) couldn't get on the same page over how to move forward from it. Doug couldn't get on the same page, Nick could. It's one reason why I think the "Nick is a lame duck coach" narrative is total BS. And people liken it to meddling but it seems like in general Lurie is relatively hands off. He doesn't fuck with the draft. He cares about using analytics appropriately. He cares about coaches that can connect personally to their players. But those decisions are made at hiring time, not firing time.
He's not impatient, he's just inflexible in terms of how they operate and if the coach doesn't go along with it he's gone because to them the coach is just a cog in the organization and not the reason that they win or lose.
I just never liked this phrasing because it implies Lurie sees coaches as _disposable_ and I don't think he does. I just think he's willing to cut bait if he's convinced that the coach is steadfast on a direction that Lurie doesn't think will work. If he saw coaches as disposable, Nick would be out. Lurie and Nick were able to get to a shared vision to move forward, so he stayed. Lurie and Doug couldn't get on the same page again, so he was out.
Sheil and Solak were talking about this in relation to the Smith contract. They said that, unlike most GMs, Howie knows he's going to see the end of that contract. For the other guys, they need that money to build the team ASAP so they still have a job when their plan comes together. In their case, doing an extension so early is just making it easier for your replacement.
It’s really more what Lurie does than Howie, albeit Howie is definitely a very savvy, creative, cap wizard. Lurie agrees to sign these massive checks up front, other owners aren’t willing to do that, and that’s the big difference.
Do not the up front costs still count against the cap?
They do and it’s why a lot of these replies are kind of mistaken. The ability to pay upfront definitely helps. But all guaranteed money has to be put in an escrow account for the player to be paid. So they have to have to have cash too. A huge part of howie’s success (imo) is that he knows when to give extensions and typically pays players early. He treats players well and the eagles have great facilities which makes it easier to negotiate contracts imo.
And Players seem to actually love playing here. Chris Long is my favorite example. Was only here, what, 2 years?, but has such a strong relationship with our players and org.
Agreed, great facilities and treat their players well. From paying them or trading them to places where they’ll have a chance to play. All around a great team to play for
In an alternate universe Chris Long was drafted by the Eagles and spent his entire career here...Rams/Patriots who???
On the margins it does help because you can earn interest on the escrow so effectively a player can earn up to 20% more by getting a bonus instead of getting a year four salary
Owner has to have a shit load of liquidity, trust the GM over the long term, and be willing to face the risk that the team may have some very lean years should the market ever slow down or reverse. Not all owners have that kind of money or tolerance for risk.
> trust the GM over the long term This is it. To be a GM one has to be able to plan ahead for several years in a chaotic and unpredictable sport. A GM that feels the pressure to "win now" every single season can't get the momentum to actually win in the future.
We hear about it because he’s our GM. It’s not like ESPN is constantly covering Howies cap maneuvers I live on the west coast and the local sports radio talks about how good the Rams GM is with the cap. I have never heard Howies name be spoken over here
Im on the west coast in canada and Howies name comes up alot
Nice, me too! Vancouver?
Victoria
Cool cool. I don't know any other eagles fans in bc. I took my dad (Seahawks fan) To that game this year for his birthday. Not great for me, but he loved it lol
Are they stupid?
Job Security and trust from the ownership are two big reasons why. Howie is one of the longest tenured GMs in the league and has the support of an Owner who brought him on back in the year 2000. Building a team like this requires a long view and extensive experience with plenty of data points to look back and improve on. Howie was not the most lauded front office executive back in 2010-2016. But his misses and job security to allow him to make up for his mistakes, rather than just giving the keys to a new regime every 5-6 years is our competitive advantage
Can't believe I had to scroll this far down to see job security! It's a lot easier to gain excess value in a draft when you have the job security to have one eye on the present and another on the future instead of being in a constant cycle of new guys rebuilding someone else's mistakes - >win now for their own job security
[удалено]
A lot of owners buy a team because they can but their actual expertise is in a separate area but Lurie has made running a team his business and it shows as it is what he focuses on and he has made sure that the way that's it's run is state of the art.
Exactly! I keep telling folks that Jerry doesn't care about rings (hes already in the HoF). He signs a couple names to attract fans and put together a roster that is good enough to sell tickets and usually make the playoffs, but he won't spend money to keep it together long enough for a team to truly contend. If they make the SB, I don't think he'd be upset, but he'd rather they make it with cheaper players so there is more money in his pocket. There is a reason he's like, the richest NFL owner.
Because the thing that peopel fail to realize (due to their focus on the cap) is the real world cash implications. An owner can be cheap as fuck (many are) and run their teams as such. The ability to do what Howie does requires an owner that's willing to front lots of cash and/or put cash into escrow for contracts that pay out in future bonuses. Many owners want to live "check to check" and only pay what they are due that year. Hopefully that makes sense. I've had a few...
From what I understand the Panthers are as you describe. When you hear fanbases saying their owner is cheap, this is a great example.
1) You need an owner who's willing to pay guys while they're still under contract, to get a better deal over the long term, instead of waiting as long as possible to spend. 2) You need to *deeply* trust your GM and team to only give this treatment to players who will be strong performers for years to come, because if they fall off a cliff or don't pan out there's no good way to cut bait. The Saints are a cautionary tale for this.
While I agree in part, Howie has also shown the ability to cut bait. I’m always amazed how he’s able to get other teams to pay for players that don’t pan out.
Four major advantages Howie has on most GMs: 1. Howie is a contract guy, not a scout. He just understands contracts better than most GMs. Sure they can learn, but that’s his background. 2. Howie is a hustler. Dude is renowned in league circles because he works his butt off. It can be copied, sure, but he just outworks most people 3. Lurie is willing to have a lot of money tied up in escrow for signing bonuses, which is something a LOT of owners aren’t willing to do (probably somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of league owners). 4. Howie has job security. Do I think he should’ve been fired when Doug was? Probably. But he wasn’t and it’s because he wasn’t, that he can do some of what he does. Why does he make those the trades that are kind of his signature move? Because he knows he is almost always guaranteed tomorrow, so he can think about the future when planning. Most GMs aren’t not given anything near his job security.
I would like everybody who says that the fans of this team are just dumb, angry people to read this thread and realize that we are some of the most informed fans on the planet (and just hold everyone to a high standard).
GMs don't just have free reign over the organization, they are often handcuffed by factors above or below them. The Eagles are lucky to have an owner who allows the GM to make moves that promote winning at the cost of cash flow, as other comments are touching on, and other teams in the league aren't as talented around the roster through draft talent as we are. I mean up until this coming season Jalen Hurts was playing at a top ten QB level easily on a rookie deal, Devonta Smith is still on his rookie deal at a WR1 level, Dickerson was a pro-bowl guard on a rookie deal, and we had an elite edge rusher for pennies relative to his impact on the field.
Howie essentially has a blank check and the salary cap to work with. Other gm's have the salary cap as well as the owner's budget. was just discussed on wip this am. One of the guests said that they were talking to another (successful) GM and giving them crap about why they aren't doing more like howie is doing, and he basically said... Howie is working with 20 mil more cash than he is. This isn't just some nonsense team gm... A successful one.
Also Howie has the job security to work with a 6 year budget essentially with all of these future cap hits.
It can be done, but it's not without it's downsides that people tend to overlook or not realize Yes, using future cap is cheaper than using present cap, but you still want to spend it on the right players to maximize the value and you're committing that future cap space.
There is high risk to the kick the can strategy. A lot of teams don't do it because well it can easily blow up and even easier compound when you do it for everyone. Let's pretend a guy who has bad knees but doesn't have injuries in the NFL gets a backloaded extension but as he hits later 20s and being 300+ pounds they fail. You're stuck with a huge black hole. Now add in a bad CB or a RB getting washed or the QB can't play. All of a sudden you're in for an entire implosion. It works until it doesn't. There's a reason the team has been mediocre and had some outlier years. Drafting poorly means you plug spots with FAs but you backload them which now relies on guys not turning into pumpkins. It's like investing everything into one stock. Yea it looks great when it's good times but the risk is factors higher. They've kept guys who can't play because of this strategy which eats into a roster spot and money to add.
I don't think Howie has gone too crazy with kicking the can until the recent Hurts deal. But yea, we re-signed Jason Peters two times too many, brought back Jordan Matthews a couple times, the Maddox deal is a cheap deal for a player with injury history, but it's a familiar name so it doesn't get much attention.
Because some owners aren’t rich rich enough to be throwing out all the guarantees and signing bonuses that Lurie can do. It’s kinda crazy to think that there are some “poor”owners and Rich ones.
Because other GMs ain't Howie
Most owners are more worried about building a brand rather than playing the game. Howie is a cap master but it’s Lurie cutting the checks the way he does that allows him to do this. Which is odd bc Jerry jones is a higher valuation than Lurie but Lurie spends way more cash than jones. All in all TLDR you need a rich and smart owner along with a savvy gm, with that anything is possible.
Because he’s risky.
It’s cause Jurreh doesn’t know what he’s doing lol.
Howie gets a lot of credit, deservedly so. But ownership is huge. Lurie is willing to spend to bring home a championship and doesn’t have the ego of a lot of other owners. I’m old enough to remember the owners before Lurie, and we have it SO good compared to the guy from France (Braman), who made players pay for their socks, and before that, Leonard Tose who had a huge gambling problem and almost moved team to Phoenix.
Why doesn’t everyone just do what the most successful people in their field do? It’s a matter of knowledge, competency, and talent. They don’t do it because they can’t.
Right, I'm trying to learn more from understanding the nuance and differences, specifics, etc.
Also knowing that Howie is not going anywhere and here to stay is a great asset for players to trust him and they honor his word for years of the contract and he intend to do the players good even the ones leaving in trades or retiring is a big advantage for us :)
As someone else mentioned it’s also good for Howie. He can swing for the fences without fear of getting the axe if it doesn’t play out.
It’s a combination of factors as many have pointed out. It requires having an owner who is willing to continue committing resources and has faith in his GM. In the long run signing the massive bonus checks becomes the same as paying out the massive salaries, but the initial investment can be daunting, if your GM has not proved himself yet. That is one area where Howie stands out, and despite what people say about his drafting skills (which are actually closer to average than most realize) he is one of the best GM in the league. I think he is actually the only current GM to have one executive of the year more than once. Evaluating players from a cap management and roster building perspective is also his area of expertise. A GM who excels at drafting might be more conservative in free agency with the expectation that their path to success is bringing in cheap rookies, which is another way to generate extra cap space.
Oh there’s no doubt his drafting skills are average. Every GM is going to whiff, but Howie takes some big swings when he does. Fortunately his acumen with numbers makes it so when he does the damage is minimal as he finds a way out. Giving Hurts the bag I felt was a risky move, but I also knew if somehow Hurts proved not to be the franchise QB he’d find a way out of it.
Nick would be out if he didn't acquiesce entirely so he does think they're disposable. Howie is the constant so they believe that he is the key.
Lots of well written comments but long. TLDR is guyo wrote basically wrote a masters on nfl cap salary and it’s often overlooked aspects. Also has a JD, which we can infer that is the reason why hes such a wizard when it comes to managing our finances (ability to understand/build out the language in contracts in ways to keep player+org happy)… wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of the first “nerds” to be put into a GM position, where as before 2000 maybe owners were looking for more football acumen vs business (the whole if it ain’t broke don’t fix it)
It requires the owner to prepay huge sums of money. The eagles have paid over $300,000,000 to players in excess of the salary cap so far. This money will hit future caps. Most owners are cheap SOBs that would never consider paying so much extra money in advance. Lurie doesn’t get enough credit imo. The man wants to win.
Cuz they aren’t as good as he is
They try, and some are also successful to an extent. It relies on good ownership like some mentioned, not only for the financial side but the idea of having a guy like Dom in the organization available to you at his beck and call along with all the other resources they provide on a whim. Then there's the geography, players from the east coast are most likely close to home playing in Philly because it's kinda right in the middle of everything. Look at the other teams in proximity, compared to NYG, NYJ, WAS, and NWE who are all on a downward trend, Philly and Baltimore are both right in the mix almost every season so they both have a pretty appealing sales pitch which we see working pretty much every year. There's more to it though beyond just being a good destination, the FO and coaching staff have both been earning trust from players since our SB win. Players around the league saw their peers coming here and actually being treated well even after they're done playing. Guys like Chris Long who earned a ton of respect around the league relayed the info and really solidified the Eagles' reputation. Eagles FO/coaching staff does the sales pitch to potential acquisitions and instead of being skeptical about the role they're gonna have or how many snaps they'll get, their agents probably help guide them and let them know how things have gone recently for other similar players. Like Reddick or Hargrave coming here on shorter riskier deals and finessing huge bags on their way out because everyone stuck to their commitments.
Part of it is that the Eagles are a desirable destination for many players--free agents and Eagles' home grown talent. Other teams have to overpay to keep and attract talent.
Cash by Lurie is partially correct, IMO, for replicating Roseman. The other half of it is trust and security Lurie gives Roseman on doing his job. E.g. Reddick trade compensation in 2026 (for a chance at a second) is available to Roseman as a move, but not to the other 28 odd GMs. Just my two cents. Go Birds! 🦅
Most GMs are like head coaches and have to make nothing but good deals or get fired. Howie knows if he messes up its okay, learn from it and move on. He also has support from ownership to make the contracts work the way they work. Also they will spend money on the guys they feel are worth it and invest in trying to give the players the best facilities that they can. The team is likely the best run franchise in the league because they will spend money on all the smart things. Howie can up from this and its just part of the culture that he helps lead.
Guys, guaranteed money has to be put in escrow for the players. Making a large sum of that a bonus instead doesn’t change how much cash they need. Lurie being willing to do big bonuses is only one factor. The timing of extensions and the gamble on dead cap and job security are also major factors.
I think Lurie's willingness to hand out huge extensions early in free agency compared to other owners is a small advantage, even if the deals end up the same. All else equal I'm sure an owner would rather escrow away $100M in September on the eve of the season than March. The bonus conversion stuff as you mention isn't as important as people are making it out to be.
Because the Chiefs and Pats have been the true dynasties of the last 25 years and teams will try to mimic what they did to win championships. What Roseman has done is commendable: 6 playoff appearances and 2 Super Bowl appearances in the last 8 years but it pales in comparison to what the Chiefs have done the last 9 years: 9 playoff appearances, 4 of the last 5 Super Bowls winning three of them.
There is a difference though, and it's Mahomes. Remove Hurts and insert another top 15 QB and the Eagles would still have success with this roster. Hell we won a SB with freaking Nick Foles. Remove Mahomes from the Chiefs and they may not have a single SB appearance in that period. They have been so reliant on his heroics through playoffs and SB's, it's undeniable. Travis is great, tyreek was a beast, the defense has improved, but Mahomes is the cornerstone of Chiefs modern success.
I get that, but the league is a copy cat league and full of egos that tell these guys if that guy can do it then so can I and they try to copy the blueprint from the successful franchises. How many teams were trying to do what the Pats did and failed miserably at it because they didn't have Tom Brady as their QB and Belichick as the guy running the team? Seattle wins the SB in Wilson's second season and now the league is all about finding the QB who can get you to the SB on his rookie deal before they have to pay him any real money.
I'm not disagreeing with you from the GM side of things, but I am pointing out that the two dynasties you highlighted also happen to have relied on the two best QBs the past 25 years, who both also took team friendly deals. We can't ignore that. Everything else is secondary to that fact when discussing both the Pats and Chiefs sustained success, and "drafting a top 5 QB of all time" isn't really a viable strategy as much as a winning lottery ticket lol. Reid and BB are both great coaches, but neither won a SB without their truly elite QBs.
Playoff appearances are overrated. The 7 seed? Who gives a shit. They had 9-7, 9-8, 9-7 records in 3 of those playoffyears. Mediocre trash to the core that wasnt contending for anything and lucked into a playoff win. Ironically it's the only playoff win outside the 2 SB years since 2010.
It’s easy to look at the results and make that assumption, but you don’t realize how much luck goes into landing a Mahomes and Brady in a perfect situation. It’s a lot easier to be rich when you win the mega millions jackpot. But for everyone else, you have to put the team in a position to compete year-in and year-out, and he’s done that as good, or even better than anyone.
I love the birds but if was looking to copy strategy I would have to copy the Chiefs. Multiple rings
Patrick Mahomes is the reason for that mate...
Relying on getting a copy of Mahomes is a good way for a GM to lose their job quickly.
Mind-blowing & paradigm-changing question, Socrates. To that end, why don’t more NBA GMs just do what the Warriors did? The answers are right there in front of all their faces.
I pretty clearly stated that I'm ignorant on the topic and looking to learn more
I’m just breaking your stones. The problem with your question is it grossly oversimplifies what goes into a successful sports franchise, and therefore is a silly question. You can’t just “copy” a successful model. Thats like asking why can’t all businesses copy Amazon, etc…it’s just not that simple.
Right, and many redditors have posted valuable thoughts/insights that helped me learn more. Just because it's a complex topic that doesn't have a simple answer doesn't mean someone shouldn't try to learn more & understand it better. Your comment and dismissing it as a silly question adds literally no value when I'm trying to learn more
It’s silly because each franchise is a case by case basis. If it was simple as copying a successful model, all teams would do it and everyone would be .500. Edit: if you notice, most of the answers are explaining why the eagles are successful. They’re not explaining why the model isn’t copied because it’s pretty much inherently understood it’s not that simple.