Eagles’ Curry Won’t Return Without Reworked Deal
(973espn.com) - Something has to give with Vinny Curry.
The veteran defensive end will not be returning to the Eagles in 2018 under his current contract terms, meaning there are three potential solutions: a restructure, a trade or an outright release, something we have been reporting on 973espn.com for weeks now.
The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Philadelphia planned to release Curry on Sunday afternoon, citing his $9 million salary for next season, untenable when you consider that's more than star left end Brandon Graham is slated to get and second-year right end Derek Barnett is expected to be the starter even if Curry somehow is still around come September.
Rapoport quickly backtracked, however, indicating the Eagles are still exploring the other avenues (trade and restructure) with the new league year set to begin on March 14.
The Eagles' cap situation is dire, projected to be just under $10M over the cap as the new league year is set to begin. The retirement of Donnie Jones gives Howie Roseman just under $2M back so other moves need to be made.
The crux of Curry's situation hasn't changed in that he will not be back in Philadelphia with a $9M salary and a $11M cap number, set to be the fourth-highest on the team. By releasing him, however, the Eagles would only gain $5M on that back in cap space.
"We are not going to make decisions, we are not going to get rid of good players because of our cap situation," Roseman said earlier this week at the NFL Scouting Combine. "That responsibility starts with me and making sure that we’re able to keep guys and sign good players and we’re not just doing things because of our cap situation."
Curry, 29, was effective as the starting RDE in Jim Schwartz's defensive line rotation, registering 42 tackles with three sacks while playing in 56 percent of the team's defensive snaps last season and grading out as the 21st best defensive end, according to ProFootballFocus.com.
For comparison purposes Graham was No. 8, Chris Long was 30th and Barnett was No. 60 during his rookie season.
In the playoffs, Curry's playing time increased to 62 percent of the repetitions.
-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen