The Eagles have signed all of their draft picks, with the exception of first-round wideout Jeremy Maclin, the nineteenth overall pick.
And given the dynamics of the rookie pool, which limits the total compensation that a team may provide to its draft class, and the 25-percent rule, which limits the growth of the deal to 25 percent of the first-year cap number, the fact that Maclin is the last man standing means that there really isn’t much about which to haggle.
Basically, the Eagles will take the remainder of their rookie pool allocation, pay all but the rookie minimum salary of $310,000 to him in the form of a roster bonus, and then apply 25 percent of that amount to each future year of the deal.
Of course, it’s not quite that simple. Some of the future money will get paid out in 2010 as an option bonus, reducing the guaranteed salaries in some of the out years. And the one-time playing-time incentive (known in some circles as the “log” bonus because earning the amount is supposedly as easy as falling off a log, though Kellen Winslow would disagree) falls beyond the limitations of the rookie pool and the 25-percent rule.
Still, for the most part, the fact that every other Eagles pick has signed takes a lot of the mystery out of Maclin’s eventual deal.