NFL owners could be taking aim at a far bigger Eagles advantage than the 'Tush Push'

[milestogo]

The Eagles maximized their spending all the way to a Super Bowl. Cheaper owners don't appear to want to do the same.

Think the NFL's attempts to ban the "Tush Push" were aimed at taking away a Philadelphia Eagles advantage? Well, that's small potatoes compared to what the league could be seeking to strip from the Birds at some point in the future.

One of the great advantages the Eagles have — maybe their biggest advantage — is the way they structure player contracts. They get use of players now, get charged for their services on the salary cap later.

Let's start with a simple example. Let's use Mekhi Becton, who signed with the Eagles last year on a one-year deal worth about $5.5 million. Becton counted for about $2 million on the Eagles' cap in 2024, the lone year he played in Philly. He'll count for about $3.5 million in "dead money" in 2025, when he'll play for the Chargers. If Becton had counted on the salary cap for the full $5.5 million in 2024, he'd have eaten up about 2.2 percent of the Eagles' cap. Instead, at $2 million, he ate up 0.8 percent.

Becton's remaining $3.5 million counted toward the 2025 cap in the form of a "void year." As the above chart shows, the NFL's salary cap rose by about $24 million from 2024 ($255.4 million) to 2025 ($279.2 million), a 9.3 percent increase. In other words, the bulk of Becton's salary cap charges were paid in a year in which the salary cap was higher, and thus easier to fit.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-news-nfl-owners-cap-changes-howie-roseman-void-years-advantage-roger-goodell/

[tishaLA]

1. They hate that Howie is great at his job

and that Lurie is willing to commit the cash to make it work -- unlike, say, Jerruh, Jimmy Haslam, Spanos, et al.

[usonian]

2. Compare with baseball.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/sport/mlb-shohei-ohtani-defers-680-million-dollars-spt-intl/index.html

$680 million deferred.

If it's "legal", teams do it.
If it's illegal, Trump does it.

Does he still want that NFL team?
Consider Fresno Baseball.


Twice a year, the Fresno Grizzlies become the Fresno Tacos, replete with mascot Cilantro Gomez, who waves to the crowd during pregame warmups. (Nina Thorsen/KQED)

The Grizzlies expect to set a merchandise sales record this year, at least partly on the strength of the Tacos brand. In addition to the game-worn jerseys, fans could buy T-shirts declaring their loyalty to Teams Lengua, al Pastor, Carnitas and Carne Asada, or choose a cap with a jaunty taco truck or tank top in the pseudo-sarape design. And two weeks after the game, the Grizzlies added a design that parodies Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" -- a red cap that promises "Taco Trucks on Every Corner."

Cilantro Gomez, WTH?

https://www.kqed.org/news/11060227/why-a-fresno-baseball-team-turns-into-tacos-twice-a-year

Fresno Grizzlies Mark 10th anniversary of Iconic Alternate with Taco Truck Brand
Friday, February 28, 2025 Paul Caputo

It’s been a decade since the Fresno Grizzlies unleashed upon the world an alternate brand that changed the Minor League Baseball logo landscape. In 2015, the team, a single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the California League, paid tribute to their annual Taco Truck Throwdown with an on-field alternate, the Fresno Tacos.

https://news.sportslogos.net/2015/07/22/fresno-grizzlies-celebrate-taco-trucks-with-amazing-uniforms/baseball/
Fresno Grizzlies celebrate taco trucks with amazing uniforms
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 Paul Caputo

Central California is the self-proclaimed birthplace of the taco truck, and to celebrate that local history, the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, will take to the field as the Fresno Tacos for one game this summer.

For four years, the Fresno Grizzlies’ Taco Truck Throwdown has been one of the team’s biggest promotions of the season—at last year’s event, more than 27,000 tacos were sold by taco truck vendors from around the San Joaquin Valley. Until this year, the promotion was kept off the field, but that’s all about to change with the fifth annual Taco Truck Throwdown on August 6, when the Grizzlies take the field against the Albuquerque Isotopes in green, orange, and white taco-themed jerseys.

Having the team wear the taco-themed hats and jerseys, which were designed by the Grizzlies’ in-house graphic designers Dorian Castro and Andy Inman, allows the Grizzlies to combine the ingredients of a team promotion and their local community with the game on the diamond, and then wrap them all up in some kind of delicious, crispy, corn-based container.

fresno-tacos-logo“This is one of our largest-attended games of the year,” said Grizzlies Manager of Communications and Marketing Ryan Young, “and this is a way we can also give attention to the players on the field.”