Salary Cap Analysis: TEs
February 22, 2011
Brent Celek
Celek is signed for 6 more seasons, with cap numbers ranging from 2.49M in 2011 to 5M in 2016. More importantly, he currently has 3.6M worth of cap overhang remaining. From a salary cap perspective, this virtually assures that he will be on the team through 2012, as the cap savings would be non-existent and minimal the next 2 years. However, from 2013-2016, he must remain productive to justify his contract, as the cap savings for trading/releasing him would rise above 3M and then 4M. This is perfectly acceptable for a productive starting TE, so as long as Celek can remain that, he stands a good chance of remaining on the team for the better part of this decade.
Clay Harbor
Harbor is signed for three more seasons, with cap numbers ranging from 518K to 688K. He has a relatively low cap overhang (340K), so he will have to earn his spot on the team each year. However, if he is able to develop into a competent backup TE, his contract provides very good value for the next several years. Yet another example of 2010 Depth Draft, in which the Eagles acquired a small army of players who won’t necessarily become stars, but who fill out the roster competently while using up little in the way of salary cap room.
The Eagles also have John Nalbone and Cornelius Ingram each signed for two seasons (405K & 490K for Nalbone, 330K & 415K for Ingram). These two players, as well as any other minimum-salary type players that are signed, figure to compete for the 3rd TE spot, if there even is one. There doesn’t appear to be any reason for the team to use a draft pick on a TE.
TE appears to be one of the most stable positions on the team, as Celek is a productive starter signed to a reasonable long-term contract, and Harbor is a semi-promising second year player who should be able to fill the backup spot on the cheap for the next several years. The third position isn’t incredibly important, as the team has gone with only two TEs for weeks at a time in the past several years. All in all, the Eagles will use less than 4M worth of cap room on this position over the next couple of years.
