Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense was a silver lining, but keeping it unchanged may cost them dearly. For General Manager Howie Roseman, keeping that core together will not be simple. According to league insiders, salary cap pressure could make it difficult for the front office to retain every key defensive contributor.

“The Eagles have at least 10 players on their defense viewed around the league as $10M+/year players,” The Athletic’s Zach Berman wrote on X. “You could see two of them depart this week. The big question for the Eagles are which of those they can keep. To take it a step further, they need to determine which ones are $20M+/year players—or perhaps even $30M+/year.”

Because of that reality, the front office must decide which stars deserve long-term investments and which ones the team may have to let walk. While AJ Brown’s loss is on most fans’ minds, these concerns are much bigger, involving multiple defense players.

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As per Spotrac’s latest info, the franchise only has about $13.6 million to work with in cap space.

They already finalized a massive three-year, $78 million extension with defensive tackle Jordan Davis. But there are other stars, like Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, and Zack Baun, while Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are already viewed as future market setters at their positions.

The defense also includes Jaelan Phillips, Reed Blankenship, and Nakobe Dean, which makes the situation even more complicated for the front office. Moreover, with free agency approaching for various stars like Phillips and Dean, teams like the Dallas Cowboys will be on standby to swoop them up.

The Eagles’ defense held opposing quarterbacks to the lowest completion percentage in the NFL at 56.8 percent, which was their best number since 2008.

At the same time, the Birds allowed just 14 passing touchdowns all year. They also finished with the second-lowest passer rating allowed at 75.4, just behind the Los Angeles Chargers. The unit also ranked fifth in points allowed per game at 19.1. Keeping this defense would certainly be a priority, especially with a boost to this year’s salary cap.

The salary cap has grown by more than $48 million in the last two years. It jumped from $255.4 million in 2024 to $279 million in 2025. But managing so many valuable contracts will remain a major challenge for the Birds.

Because of that pressure, some tough decisions are expected this offseason. The Eagles are likely to let a few important free agents walk while attempting to keep several core pieces.

At the same time, they are exploring ways to move wide receiver AJ Brown. However, that situation has reportedly hit a roadblock.

Howie Roseman is creatively handling the AJ Brown trade as it has slowed down

This offseason has been full of trade chatter, but few names have dominated the conversation like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown. They have quietly spoken with multiple teams about a potential move. However, momentum around a deal has slowed down in recent days.

“There is “not a lot of momentum” for an AJ Brown deal, per @RapSheet,” the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast shared on X.

NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo explained that one of the major complications involves how the Birds would handle Brown’s salary cap impact if they moved him.

If the team from the City of Brotherly Love trades Brown before June 1, the cap hit would actually rise by more than $20 million. That scenario would leave the Birds carrying a massive $43.5 million dead cap charge, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

On the other hand, a post-June 1 trade would save roughly $7 million in cap space while leaving a $16.3 million dead cap hit, with the remaining portion pushed into the 2027 books.

Because of that gap, Howie Roseman has reportedly tried to get creative during negotiations.

“The other thing that I’ve come to understand is Howie Roseman, and this shouldn’t really come as a surprise, was trying to be creative about these negotiations with teams and say, ‘Well, could we do sort of a split deal, like do half the deal now,’ and then, what Ian (Rapoport) was talking about, ‘finish the rest of the deal after June 1,'” Garafolo said.

Still, the clock is ticking for the Birds. Garafolo suggested Roseman is searching for a way to finalize a trade before the start of the league’s new year. For now, though, the situation remains unresolved. So the only thing the fans can do is wait and see how this complicated move plays out.