The Bryce Huff trade highlights an example of the stark contrast between the Eagles and Cowboys

Cowboys and Eagles roster-building efforts are very different

There is an extreme difference in the way the Philadelphia Eagles construct their roster compared to how the Dallas Cowboys do it. We are all aware that the Cowboys’ front office is very selective in spending its cap resources. They are very risk-averse with their free agent spending, sticking to a yearly budget, and dragging out the extensions of their own players as long as possible to ensure what they are buying is a good investment.

The Eagles’ front office is the polar opposite. They are aggressive in their free agent spending, circumventing annual cap space by pushing costs into future seasons, and jumping on a contract extension at the first opportunity. The Eagles’ usage of void years has become so excessive that the NFL is now having lengthy discussions about how the salary cap is working and if teams are using it in the manner in which it was intended.

Suffice it to say, the Eagles are not using it for its “intended spirit” but rather exploiting it to its fullest. Mind you, Howie Roseman is not breaking any rules. How a team chooses to spread out costs is up to them, and the Eagles are just one of those teams that is spending like crazy now and spreading it out like nothing we’ve seen before.

The heavy use of void years allows the Eagles to spend money like crazy. They aren’t a team that is making “all the right moves,” they are a team that is making all kinds of moves, hoping enough of them will stick to create a talented football team. And it’s working. The Eagles are loaded with talent all over their roster.

And because the Eagles are throwing money around left and right, some of their purchases won’t be good ones. This was revealed in a rather costly fashion on Friday when we learned the team is waving the white flag on free agent edge rusher Bryce Huff and trading him to the San Francisco 49ers.

The immediate reaction is more Howie praise. The Eagles’ GM recognized Huff was a huge mistake, so he quickly pivoted and is cutting his losses the best he can. And that’s true. Getting out of that deal is better than staying in it. However, it doesn’t appear that people truly understand how costly this move was.

The Eagles signed Huff to a three-year, $51 million deal last offseason. That’s a whopping annual cost of $17 million per year for an undrafted free agent who had one good season over his first four years in the league. He wasn’t even a starter on the New York Jets, but his 10-sack season in 2023 caught Roseman’s attention, so the Eagles gambled that he was a rising star.

He wasn’t. The realization came quickly for Roseman that he had made a mistake, so he did what he does best – trade his way out of it.

And while this will quickly become another mistake that Howie can sweep under the rug, it won’t be forgotten by those who are paying close attention. That’s because this move was really bad. The Eagles gave Huff $34 million in guaranteed money with his new deal. That guaranteed money breaks down as follows…

$16.1 million signing bonus
$1.1 million 2024 base salary
$1.2 million 2025 base salary
$15.6 million 2025 option bonus

The Eagles aren’t eating that entire $34 million themselves. As part of the trade agreement, the 49ers will take on $8 million of his 2025 costs, meaning that the Eagles can push some of his guaranteed money on San Francisco. Regardless, he’s still costing Philadelphia north of $25 million for one underwhelming season. On the plus side, the Eagles are getting a Day 3 draft pick in return.

Now, what that means is different for everyone. The Eagles won the Super Bowl, so is it fair to pass judgment on any move they make, regardless of how terrible it looks? When you take a lot of swings, you’re going to miss sometimes. Howie’s not perfect.

The problem with this type of logic is that it’s evasive. There is no world where the Huff trade should be looked at in a favorable light. It was bad. Really bad. Sure, no one in Philly is feeling the sting because the Eagles invested in so many other players that compensated for their mishaps.

And they didn’t make these investments with smart, calculated moves. They do it by making an abundance of moves, some good, but also some very bad. The Huff signing was bad. Trading a third-round pick for Jahan Dotson was bad. The Cowboys make mistakes, but not to that level. They get dragged through the mud for moves like the Trey Lance or Jonathan Mingo trades (which were bad), but those were Day 3 draft picks, and they are never tending to wounds from bad free agent signings.

While Cowboys fans remember Brandon Carr (which wasn’t that egregious), the Eagles have gone through a plethora of free agent busts like Nnamdi Asomugha, Byron Maxwell, DeMarco Murray, Demetress Bell, and now you can add Huff to the list.

And while the Cowboys have made bad trades like giving up fourth-rounders for Lance and Mingo, the Eagles have traded third-rounders for Dotson and Golden Tate. They also traded LeSean McCoy in his prime, who went on to have three-straight Pro Bowl seasons in Buffalo, while the Eagles received a linebacker named Kiko Alonso in return. Alonso only lasted one disappointing year in Philly before they moved on from him the following year.

The Eagles did a lot of things right last year. They finally got the coaching right as Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore were excellent coordinators. The Saquon Barkley and Zack Baun moves were outstanding. And they have stepped up their drafting since the days they were picking Jalen Reagor and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside over guys like Justin Jefferson and D.K. Metcalf.

But they have also done a lot of things wrong. A lot. And they paddle through those mistakes by pushing out a ridiculous amount of money and reloading the clip. That is the Roseman way.

Watching the Eagles win the Super Bowl makes everyone think a little differently about what the correct path is to get there. When you lay everything out on the table, it becomes easier to see that the Eagles make a lot of mistakes, but their willingness to keep swinging by borrowing extra hacks from future seasons affords them a lot of forgiveness. The Cowboys get no forgiveness. Until they win the big prize, anything they do will always be seen as not good enough.