July 17, 2023
One of the better changes that came out of the NFL's 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement was the pre-determined salary cap numbers of all rookie draft picks, which was designed to nearly eliminate rookie holdouts. It has succeeded.
Before the 2023 NFL Draft even began, salary cap numbers were already in place for every draft slot, from pick No. 1, which became Bryce Young, to pick No. 259, Desjuan Johnson. Below are the Eagles' estimated rookie salary cap numbers for the next four years, using resources from OverTheCap.com.
We'll also use this page as something of a rookie signing tracker, checking off each player who has signed, as it happens.
| Player | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Jalen Carter ✔️ | $3.964,762 | $4,955,953 | $5,947,144 | $6,938,335 |
| Nolan Smith ✔️ | $2,180,438 | $2,725,548 | $3,270,658 | $3,815,768 |
| Tyler Steen ✔️ | $1,045,534 | $1,306,918 | $1,568,302 | $1,829,686 |
| Sydney Brown ✔️ | $1,045,291 | $1,306,614 | $1,567,937 | $1,829,260 |
| Kelee Ringo ✔️ | $955,231 | $1,120,231 | $1,235,231 | $1,350,231 |
| Tanner McKee ✔️ | $796,630 | $961,630 | $1.076,630 | $1,191,630 |
| Moro Ojomo ✔️ | $769,445 | $934,445 | $1,049,445 | $1,164,445 |
During the 2026 offseason, the Eagles will also have the opportunity to exercise fifth-year options on Carter and Smith for the 2027 season.
If you add up all the money in the "2023" column, the total estimated rookie pool for the Eagles' draft class is $10,757,331. So will they need $10,757,331 in cap space to sign all their rookies, right? Nah, it doesn't quite work that that. Because the NFL only counts the top 51 earning players on the roster toward the salary cap, only Carter, Smith, Steen, and Brown, and will replace players above the "top 51" line of demarcation, so to speak.
As you'll see on OverTheCap's Eagles page, there are a bunch of players at the back end of the top 51 who will count for a little under $1,000,000 against the cap this year. In other words, you would add up the cap numbers for Carter, Smith, Steen, and Brown, and subtract the cap numbers of the four players just above the 51-man demarcation. That number gives you the extra cap space the Eagles would need to sign their entire slate of draft picks.
I'll save you the work. It's $4,373,723. The Eagles currently have over $20 million in cap space, according to the NFLPA public daily salary cap report, so, you know, they have more than enough room to sign all of their rookie draft picks without clearing further cap space. It's no surprise that they're already working quickly to get them signed.
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