Report: Eagles working to restructure Lane Johnson’s contract too

There’s one key word for the Eagles’ offseason so far: Restructure.

As the Eagles continue to make moves to become salary cap compliant before the start of the new league year on March 17, they are reportedly working to restructure Lane Johnson’s contract as well.

This news comes from veteran reporter Derrick Gunn, who also said earlier in the week that the Eagles were working to restructure Brandon Graham’s contract.

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Sources confirm that @LaneJohnson65 and the eagles are working on restructuring his deal ...
— Derrick Gunn (@RealDGunn) March 5, 2021

This isn’t a surprise.

Coming into Friday, OverTheCap had the Eagles $43 million over their adjusted salary cap figure, so they had and have work to do.

Graham and Johnson represent the two of the biggest cap hits for players still on the roster. In 2021, Graham is scheduled for a cap hit of $17.93 million and Johnson is scheduled for a cap hit of $17.85 million. So it makes sense that the Eagles want to get those numbers down and you can probably expect something to happen with Fletcher Cox and his $23.9 million figure as well.

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There are different types of restructures. In the case of Graham, an extension makes sense, while with Johnson we might be looking at a restructure where he’s simply given a signing bonus to create some space out of his base salary.

Here’s a reminder of what the Eagles have already done this offseason:

Restructured Darius Slay’s contract to save around $9 million.
Restructured Alshon Jeffery’s contract and Malik Jackson’s contract to set up a release with a post-June 1 designation.
Restructured Jason Kelce’s contract for the 2021 season, keeping him with the team.
Traded Carson Wentz in a move that saved less than $1 million in cap space.

And a few more moves they might make that would help:

Try to reach a new deal with Derek Barnett so he doesn’t play the 2021 season on his 5th-year option (a $10 million cap hit).
Renegotiate Marquise Goodwin’s contract or simply cut him to save $4.2 million.
Trade or release Zach Ertz to save $4.7 million in cap space.
Renegotiate/extend Cox’s deal to bring down his $23.9 figure this season.
Renegotiate Brandon Brooks’ contract to cut down on his $14.6 million figure.

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