Strange Twist with Marquise Goodwin Puts Eagles under Salary Cap - Barely

The former Olympian and WR never played for the Eagles after he reverted to the 49ers, a move that put Philly in cap compliance with league year starting Wednesday at 4 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA - Turns out speedy wide receiver Marquise Goodwin will never play a down for the Eagles, but he played a big role in helping the team get under the salary cap, no easy task considering how much money GM Howie Roseman had to shave to get there.

Goodwin’s contract reverted back to the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, according to the NFL's transaction wire. 

Philadelphia acquired the former Olympian last spring from the 49ers in a draft weekend trade last spring that included a swap of sixth-round picks. From there, Goodwin, 31, worked out a new deal with the Eagles before opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, something that tolled his one-year renegotiated deal to 2021.

However, per conditions of the trade, the veteran receiver’s rights reverted back to San Francisco in what will essentially be a procedural move because Goodwin is expected to be released by the Niners.

The issue, per a league source, seems to be that Goodwin agreed to sign the restructured deal with Philadelphia but because of the pandemic, it was never completed.

The good news for the salary-cap strapped Eagles is they will gain a little over $4 million in cap space under Goodwin's original contract before the agreed-upon restructure, an amount that puts the Eagles just under the salary cap maximum of $182.5 million.

The Eagles were able to become salary-cap compliant despite not releasing tight end Zach Ertz, who has a cap charge above $12M. If the Eagles shed the three-time Pro Bowler via a trade or release moving forward, they would save $4.9M.

Ertz has been given permission to seek a trade.

Finally, the 49ers will also have to send their 2021 seventh-round pick to the Eagles because Goodwin reverted back.

The draft pick now gives the Eagles 11 selections in this spring's draft, two of those are compensatory picks in the sixth round. They are still, however, without a fourth-round pick, something that could be corrected if Roseman is able to find a trade partner for Ertz.

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Thursday on The Middle with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, former Eagles OT Barrett Brooks streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and SportsMap Radio. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.