As the Eagles embark on a new era for the first time since 1999, coach Chip Kelly and company have an edge when it comes to their cap situation.
The Eagles may inflate their base cap number by up to $23 million in 2013.
That’s the amount the Eagles may carry over from 2012, if they choose to do so. Under the current labor deal, teams may carryover over any, some, all, or none of their cap surplus.
The full list of available adjustments appears here, with both the Cowboys and Redskins losing cap space due to the penalties imposed last year after they were determined to be in violation of the spirit of the uncapped year in 2010.
The numbers don’t reflect total cap space for 2013; instead, it’s the additional amount that each team has, or doesn’t have, available under the unadjusted cap, which is expected to be in the range of $121 million per team. For example, the Eagles will be able to bump the cap from $121 million to $144 million.
The fact that cap money is available to be carried over doesn’t mean it will be. Last year, the Cardinals left $5 million on the books, and the Chargers and Texans carried over none of their excess cap space from 2011.
There’s no good reason to not carry over cap space, unless a team simply doesn’t want to spend the money. Thus, fans should pay close attention to whether their favorite team is willing to spend its money on players, before the fans decide whether they’re willing to spend theirs on tickets, hats, and jerseys.