By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor
The Eagles have until Wednesday to shed nearly $10 million in cap space. Needless to say, the next few days will be very interesting, seeing who goes and who stays from the Super Bowl LII champions. One of the more mentioned names when its come to cuts for cap space is Vinny Curry. Releasing Curry would save the Eagles $5 million in cap space, so even though he was a big part of their dominant defensive line, Curry has likely played his last game in an Eagles uniform. Also, the Birds acquired Michael Bennett from Seattle last week, making Curry's departure even more definitive.
Most of the league knows the Eagles' situation with Curry, but it looks like Howie Roseman will still try to get something in return for him before cutting the 29-year-old. A trade would make little sense for the organization though, because it wouldn't rid them of the $5 million they'd save if he's cut.
Teams are now shopping players they may have to cut when the league year begins. Among them: #Rams Tavon Austin, #Eagles Vinny Curry, #Dolphins Ja'Wuan James. … That time of year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 12, 2018
Back on March 4, Rapoport had reported that the Eagles were expecting to release Curry, but not too long afterwards, a source from inside the Eagles organization informed Rapoport that the two sides were trying to work on a contract extension. Nothing came of that, it seems.
Curry, 29, was selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2012 draft out of Marshall. This season for Philadelphia, he started in all 16 games and had the best year of his career, tallying 25 total tackles, 17 assists and a forced fumble. Curry's 47 pressures on the season were fourth on the team, despite only playing 55.9 percent of the snaps. He had five tackles in the postseason.
Meanwhile, Jason Peters missed the majority of the season after tearing his ACL and MCL in October during a game against Washington. The 36-year-old left tackle, when healthy, is one of the best at what he does in the entire NFL and there have been no signs to Peters departing Philadelphia, despite the amount of cap space it would clear. During a post-Super Bowl press conference, Doug Pederson stated he expects Peters to be his left tackle next season. According to Jason La Conforna of CBS Sports, the Eagles have made no attempt to move Peters.
The left tackle market has been static. The Bills remain open to a Cordy Glenn trade, though they have not been operating as if they have to make that trade, sources said, while the Eagles have made no attempts to move Jason Peters, who they won a Super Bowl without […] Peters is very likely to remain in Philadelphia, though Eagles GM Howie Roseman will have other tricks up his sleeve. Given the dearth of pass rush on the open market, it's only a matter of time before teams come calling on Eagles end Vinny Curry. There's some real trade potential there.
The Eagles signed Peters to a three-year, $27.75 million contract back in February, 2014. The nine-time Pro Bowler has a $10.6 million cap hit for the upcoming season. They'd save $4 million if he was cut, resulting in $6 million in dead cap space. Halapoulivaaiti Vatai did an admirable job in Peters' place, so having him on the team as depth with the now Super Bowl experience will be extremely beneficial for the Eagles offensive line.