It seemed like for the past, well … forever, that the defense was built with mondo-sized paychecks and resources going to the defensive line, and the linebackers and secondary just kind of worked out, more or less.
That shifted in 2024. Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson in free agency and used first and second-round draft picks on defensive backs, while using zero significant resources on interior defensive linemen. They did throw big money at an edge rusher and drafted another one in the third round, but relative to other years, that’s nothing huge.
That philosophy built the best defense in the NFL and won a Super Bowl. So this begs the question: Will one year of success change the way the Eagles think about spending on defense?
A young and awesome Eagles line could mean more spent on the defensive backfield
You can say that the Eagles didn’t necessarily need to spend a whole lot of resources on the defensive line last season because of what they did the last few years. They spent their previous three first-round draft picks on defensive linemen Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and edge rusher Nolan Smith.
That’s probably true, and it was emphasized by the mondo-sized holes they had in the secondary, so the Quiyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean draft picks made sense. But Howie Roseman using premium draft picks on a position that he had famously never spent premium draft picks on was pretty surprising.
Then we get to free agency this season, and the Eagles give their biggest defensive contract to linebacker Zack Baun, who is now making $17 million (6 percent of salary cap). That’s the most an Eagles inside linebacker has made — in both actual money and percentage of the salary cap.
You could spin that and say, ‘Well, Baun is an elite player who deserved a disgusting amount of money. Also, the Eagles needed some consistency at the spot, so it makes sense that they kept him in the building.’ That’s true, but it still goes against the grain from Roseman’s norm.
It all helps that most of the players the Eagles added on defense last year worked out incredibly well, but the fact of the matter is that the Eagles are on the brink of making a shift in how they build their defense.
Here’s the percentage of total money the Eagles have spent on defensive positional groups dating back to the 2013 season (These numbers are coming from OverTheCap).
Year | DL+Edge | LBs | DBs |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 | 17.43% | 3.96% | 16.48% |
2024 | 22.49% | 3.29% | 17.74% |
2023 | 25.85% | 3.85% | 17.73% |
2022 | 35.21% | 4.09% | 15.35% |
2021 | 30.62% | 4.38% | 16.54% |
2020 | 22.83% | 3.09% | 10.20% |
2019 | 19.23% | 5.09% | 20.04% |
2018 | 25.72% | 4.78% | 14.31% |
2017 | 24.25% | 9.71% | 12.64% |
2016 | 23.57% | 9.63% | 14.84% |
2015 | 19.69% | 6.59% | 19.53% |
2014 | 19.68% | 8.48% | 17.50% |
2013 | 13.79% | 8.90% | 11.52% |
It’s important to remember that the Eagles have been spending much more on offense than defense over the past three seasons, which makes sense because that offense is chock-full of dudes who rock. Because of that, over half of the defense is still on their rookie contracts.
The defensive line percentage will explode once the Eagles sign Jalen Carter to a mega deal. It feels like that’ll only make it more important to spend resources on the other positions on defense.
That also means that there might be a decent stretch here where the Eagles continue to rely on those young guys and instead of signing more veterans like Javon Hargrave (2020, $13 million APY), Haason Reddick (2022, $15 million APY), and Bryce Huff (2024, $17 million APY).
In the future, it seems like money might get spent on the defensive backfield. Justin Reid (former Chiefs, now Saints Safety) said that the Eagles were trying to sign him in free agency. That ultimately didn’t work out because the Eagles are in a tough spot with the cap, but it shows that Howie Roseman is willing to shell some money out at the position.
If they don’t go with the trading/free agency route, they could always use a first or second-round pick on one of the better safeties in the draft. If they hit on that pick, it’d allow them to keep DB spending around where it’s been (15-17 percent) over the past handful of years.
You have to imagine that Howie Roseman had some positive reinforcement by hitting on both of the young cornerbacks in 2024. Maybe it won’t encourage him to dip back into that well in the future—but it certainly wouldn’t scare him off.
At least, that’s what makes sense to my normal human brain. Howie Roseman is the best general manager in the NFL. If I took the pills from Limitless, my brain would function at about 1% of what Roseman has going on day-to-day.