What's good, y'all? It's Vaughn Miller, Super Bowl MVP, SAG Master, and now your host of Free Range. This is where NFL meets real talk. Every week, I'm bringing you inside the game, from locker room stories to league-wide headlines. You want football IQ, locker room insight, and real conversations with the people shaping the league? Welcome to Free Range with Vaughn Miller, where nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday. Listen and follow Free Range with me, Vaughn Miller, wherever you get your podcasts. what's going on everybody and good morning today is saturday february 28th and this is your daily go birds morning update giving you all the eagles news you need to know as well as what to keep an eye out for today happy saturday happy final day of february i mentioned on the last pod that I think it's pretty crazy that February is the month that has the fewest days. It's not the first month. It's not the last month. You would think you would just pick the last month if you're going to do the fewest days. But as always, you guys, the best listeners, our guy Stokes reached out to me and explained that apparently it's because, I'll just pull it up here. It says February is the shortest month because it's the last month added. The Romans originally had 10 months and the winter didn't even have months at all. Apparently under Julius Caesar, they standardized the calendar 365 days and added January and February. Now I still think it would have made more sense than to take the days off of December. Like it just is weird to me to have the second month, have the fewest months, but regard the fewest days, but regardless, it is the final day of February and it's crazy. It's already March already. The new league year is right around the corner. regardless thank you guys for taking time on your weekend to uh to talk some eagles with me because we actually have a lot to get into uh we know what the salary cap is going to be for next year which means we are set in how much salary cap space the eagles have um the nflpa report card that they tried to hide and didn't want leaked of course leaked so we know some stuff about the eagles grades and then i have some thoughts because we're obviously not going to do a pod without talking about A.J. Brown. On some players, they could get back in a trade for A.J. Brown. And I'll explain some more about that when we talk about it. But let's get right into it. As on Friday, the NFL set the salary cap at $301.2 million, which is a $22 million increase from 2025. Now, it's funny. Whenever the salary cap goes up, everybody thinks or a lot of people think, well, the Eagles just got $22 million more dollars in salary cap. And that's not really the case. The Eagles project and websites like Over the Cap and Spotrack project what the salary cap will be. So when we've been saying the Eagles have around $16 million in salary cap space, that is with a projected cap. Now, the cap actually came in about $2 million below what people thought. So after the salary cap has now been set at $301.2 million, the Eagles that are around $14 million in salary cap space. Now, they will add to that, you know, I'd imagine a Jalen Hurts restructure will probably happen to create space. Michael Carter can be cut to save $10 million in salary cap space. So there will be space added. But they're right around $14 million in salary cap space. And as is the case with everything Eagles right now, of course, the next question is, well, how does that relate if AJ were to be traded? So I've heard a lot of this over the past few days. I would say nationally. Locally, I feel like it's been brought up. It's been explained quite a bit. But nationally, there has been a lot of, well, the Eagles take on a big salary cap hit if they trade A.J. Brown. And it is true. A.J. Brown is scheduled to be at around $23 million on the cap in the 2026 season. And if he's traded, that number goes up $20 million to around $43 million. So they would have a $43 million day cap hit if they trade him prior to June 1st. After June 1st, that split is not as bad as it split over multiple years. But what I would say is this, and I can't stress this enough. The Eagles do not care about the dead cap hit. They don't. In fact, it's great for Howie that everyone is out there acting like they care about the dead cap hit because they only care about cash. The salary cap is just a collection of numbers that they can manipulate. And they can't always manipulate. There's certain things they have to stick to. But the salary cap is more just about fitting everything in. It's not actually about how much you're spending, right? I mean, it is to an extent, but I think you guys get what I'm saying. There's a difference between the cap number and the cash number And the Eagles have always had a lot of dead cap In fact this year alone the Eagles have million in dead cap hit tied to Bryce Huff Darius Slay and James Bradbury I would guess almost nobody knew that right? So they just don't care about dead cap. They care about cash. And if they trade AJ, they save $30 million in cash. So I think it's a benefit for Howie that people think he cares about the dead cap hit. And it's not ideal, but it will not stop them from trading AJ Brown and the new cap number, they will add cap space. They will figure out a way to make it all work, to do what they want. That's not the hard part. The hard part is managing the cash that they have. That's where the true decisions are made. And that is something I think I've learned over my years covering the team. I do miss the days of figuring out cap space and all that. And I think things have changed too. The Eagles have changed how they do things. But yeah, it's all about the cash now. And we don't know the cash number. We don't know what their actual cash number is. What we do know is their cap hit number. And I can promise you the $43 million dead cap hit will not stop them from trading AJ. If they don't trade AJ, it'll be because they don't like to offer. It'll be because they just simply don't want to trade them. It won't be because of the dead cap hit. So with $14 million in space with this new salary cap, they have work to do in terms of moving stuff around, but they'll figure out a way to do it. And it seems like the AJ thing could come to a head soon. There was a lot of reporting on Friday about how they want this, that basically it's going to happen soon if it happens. And I think that makes sense. The Eagles will say to people, give me your final offer. The new league year is next week. We want to know. We want to plan. Tell us what it is so we can know. So keep your eye out for an emergency, Pucks. I think it's happening. I think we are coming to an end with this one way or the other. The funniest outcome will be, and the best outcome in some ways for the Eagles, would be if they just extended him. If they don't like the offer, they give AJ a check to make him happy and everyone moves on. Like that could happen too. I still think he's going to be gone if I had to guess. I think they will get a good enough offer to trade him. But yeah, the dead cap hit, really not a big deal. All right. As I said, the NFLPA, every year they do this, they put out the report card where the Eagles players, and every team does this, vote on certain things, right? Home field, locker room, training room, weight room, all types of things. So the NFL tried to hide it this past year because for obvious reasons, the owners didn't like these negative grades to come out, right? Like if your ownership is voted an F and you're an owner, you don't want that out in public. There's no really need to have it out in public in the eyes of the owner. But as was expected, of course it leaked. So ESPN got the full list of grades for the Eagles NFLPA survey, and here's what they were. So I'll read them straight through and talk about each. So treatment of families, C plus. This one's surprising. I mean, I think this has to do with where they put the families in the link. But if I was Jeffrey Lurie, this is something I would think needs to get rectified. I think treatment of families is one you definitely don't want to score poorly in. And the C plus isn't terrible. Trust me as a former college student, but like you should be doing better than that if you're a first class organization. So that's a little bit surprising. Home game field gets an A. Food dining area gets an A. Their cafeteria is banging. Nutritionist dietician gets a B plus. Little surprised by that. It feels like they have a good staff there, but I guess the players or at least a few players said some stuff they didn't agree with. Locker room gets a D. I'm honestly shocked it didn't get an F. The Eagles locker room is bad. There is nothing good about it for players. It's tight. It's crammed. The lockers aren't cool. There's not comfortable chairs. There's just nothing good about the Eagles locker room. I think they'll eventually change it, clearly, but the question will be when, and it's a bad locker room. Training room, B-. It's a pretty old school standard training room, no real frills or anything. Training staff gets an A, they'll like that. Weight room, A-. They have a really nice weight room. It's not like massive, but it is a nice weight room. Strength coaches, A-. Position coaches, A-. Offensive coordinator gets a C+. Now, I can already hear the people saying to me, well, yeah, like, Petulo got a C+, and the defensive coordinator got an A+. Not surprising. And we'll talk about the head coach got, you know, spoiler, it was an A. um yeah i think c plus is probably fair for the job patulo did i think it's a good grade from the uh from the players like i think patulo probably did a c plus job so yeah i appreciate the honesty there um special teams coordinator gets an a team travel and f man they do not like the way they're they travel and i don't think it's going to change because they've gotten this grade before and they haven't come to a solution on it so yeah um head coach gets an a and i think that's noteworthy right Like the players love Nick Sirianni They love Nick Sirianni He scored higher actually than the GM and the ownership GM gets a B team ownership gets a B And the team ownership he probably getting dinged for things like the treatment of the families, the weight room, the way they travel and all those things. And then for Howie, it's tough. I don't know if you want a GM that gets an A. He has to make tough decisions. So yeah, but I do think that Nick Sirianni getting an A is noteworthy. I think it's a good look for Nick Sirianni. All right. On the other side, it's a short one today. On the other side, we're going to talk about some players I think the Eagles could get back in a trade for AJ Brown because I kind of think how he's dropping a clue a little bit when he talks. So that'll be on the other side. But first, a word from our sponsors. Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the Sports Media Podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports. The Sports Media Podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Hoda Kopi reached out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch Podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so as we've heard all week and talked about on the Daily Pod all week, We know Howie has been on a torch of force in Indianapolis, just doing the master class work of doing what you need to do to extract the most out of an asset that doesn't want to be there. And that's what AJ is right now. He seems to be an asset on the roster that does not want to be on the roster. But one thing that has started to kind of poke through to me, and I think maybe Howie is trying to send a clue or whatever, is Howie keeps bringing up you need to have special players. right? Like we're not in the, we're not in the business of losing special players. You have to win with players. We're not going to subtract bad play. We're not going to subtract great players, right? I think the Eagles will get a draft pick for AJ, but you do wonder if Howie's end goal here in trading AJ is to get back a player, right? Like not only will they be able to, you know, kind of say, Hey, look, we got this second round pick for AJ. Maybe they're also able to say, we got this and we think this guy's really good. Like we acquired this guy and we think he's really going to help us. Now, the tricky part is they don't probably want to acquire a bunch of salary cap space or a lot of like cash players that are owed cash back, right? Like they don't want to bring someone in that they're going to have to pay $20 million to this year because that could impact how their cash spending works, right? But I do think that they want to bring in a player back in this trade. And if they do trade AJ, I think they're going to bring in another receiver. So what I did was I took the four teams I think he's most likely to be traded to, the Patriots, the Bills, the Ravens, and the Chiefs, and thought, if I'm the Eagles, who is somebody that I could ask for back? Now, to be clear, this is not saying these players are worthy of a one-to-one trade with AJ. There are one or two that we'll talk about that maybe it's a little more one-to-one, but I think these players are guys that would have value to the Eagles in a trade back when you're also getting a pick. I think if you're going to be able to replace AJ, you're not going to really be able to do it with a rookie. You want to do it with a more approving guy. And I think the move to get their AJ replacement could be flipping that draft pick. But if you can extract a player from a team that's trading for AJ, then I think that would be a positive. I think Howie is kind of hinting at that. So let's go over some guys I think would make sense. And we will start with the New England Patriots who have two receivers that I think could be attractive in a trade. And they're both very similar financial situations, different players, but similar numbers and all those things. So the two players from the Patriots I think they could potentially bring back are Demario Douglas and Kayshaun Booty. Now, one of the reasons I say that is because if they're bringing in AJ, they don't have a need for both of those players. It seems like Stephon Diggs will be back next season. there was some reporting from masslive.com on Friday that the Patriots are trying to make it so they can fit both Stefan Diggs and AJ Brown under the salary cap. So if you're going to have those two, you don't need Douglas and Keishon Booty as well. You're not just going to give them away, but they can be attractive pieces for the Eagles. So both are on a $3.6 million base salary. Both are on the last year of their rookie deal. So you might want to extend them this year. but you're probably getting them at a pretty good number. And I think both could help the team. Demario Douglas, 5'8". So he's a small guy, but he's someone that can make plays down the field. He averaged almost 15 yards a catch last season. He had 31 catches on 46 targets for 447 yards and three touchdowns Sorry for the sharp edit there Something stopped the pod from being recorded But regardless put up decent numbers right And then you look at Kayshawn Booty. Now, Kayshawn Booty also can be a down-the-field threat, 5'11". Now, he averaged almost 17 yards per catch, had six touchdowns. So he would clearly be the more attractive of the two in bringing back in a trade. So again, Kayshawn Booty is not as good as A.J. Brown, obviously. But if you're getting a second round pick and Kayshawn Booty, I think that there's some appeal there. Now, two other players to look at, they have a guard, Caden Wallace, who I think last year, you look at the pro football focus grades. He had a good year. Ben Brown, a backup guard at both rookie and center. Wallace plays right guard, so there's some obvious need there. So I do think that you could bring in a backup guard where, again, he's not the reason you're making the trade, but you're bringing in a player that can help you and make your 53-man roster when trading AJ. Now, two players on the Bills, or three players on the Bills, that I think could make some sense. There are two tight ends, Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox. So Dalton Kincaid, only $2 million base salaries in the last year of his rookie deal. Fifth-year options available if you wanted to then control him for another year. Obviously, he's a very good player, but you got to give to get. And the Eagles could view bringing in an elite-level tight end. maybe you take a little bit less of a pick to help out at that position. So you lose AJ, you save cash, and then you also bring in an elite tight end. Maybe there's that possibility. Now Dawson Knox a bit older. He has a $10 million base salary. So the bills save $10 million in cap space. This might be a little more doable if the bills are the team that end up getting AJ last year of his contract. So maybe you would want to extend them, but he would certainly be in a tight end room that has nobody in it right now, he could be helpful there. And then obviously Keon Coleman. So Keon Coleman, it's just tough to know what to make, right? Like I'm not there. I'm not in that building. You see the reports. He's been sat by the team multiple times just for in-house infractions. You know, he's not been terrible in Buffalo. Like he has eight touchdowns in two years, almost a thousand yards in two years. Again, not great. And I think he's definitely been a disappointment, but he's six, four, he's super athletic. I don't even think he's 24 years old yet. He might not even be 23 years old yet. So maybe you do go and you take him in addition to it again, not trading him straight up for AJ, but a former, uh, I think he was a second round or no. Yeah, it was a second round pick top of the second round. So, you know, I think it's just a player worth taking a flyer on now. If they do their homework and they find he's just not someone you want in the building, that's different. But in terms of just getting like a young receiver with upside, like 6'4", long arms, fast, can jump. He has all the tools. It's really just a matter of thinking in your building, you could get more out of him. So Keon Coleman can be an interesting player to bring in. Now, the Ravens and the Chiefs. So the Ravens and the Chiefs don't have as good a roster as in my opinion. So there's just not as many options there, at least that fit, right? But I'll ask you guys, would you trade AJ for like Zay Flowers and a third? Or would you rather have a first? Like, would you take Zay Flowers? Now, if you're the Ravens, you might not want to trade Zay Flowers because the whole point is to bring an AJ and have him with Zay Flowers. But I'm just like, that would be the attractive piece on the roster. Zay Flowers. The Eagles bring in a fast, big playmaking receiver. The Ravens get a better receiver in AJ, obviously older, but better at this point and then for the Chiefs Xavier Worthy so Xavier Worthy if I'm the Chiefs I don't know if I would do it because Xavier Worthy is younger but the Chiefs are an interesting spot like are they punting on this year if they are then they obviously don't want AJ but if they're gonna try to win right now I mean AJ is probably a better receiver than Xavier Worthy right now so Xavier Worthy two million dollar base salary Zay Flowers two and a half million base salary. If the Eagles are looking for players, I think asking for Xavier Worthy, maybe straight up because he's young, but maybe Xavier Worthy in a third. I don't know. I'm just saying I think Zay Flowers and Xavier Worthy would be the two players on those rosters where you go, okay, I'm more interested in a player. Here's what I'm thinking. So I do think you're going to see the Eagles try to get a player back or take the pick and flip the pick for a player. and I've already been doing homework on who I think they could go after. There are some intriguing names out there if they trade AJ. So we'll see what they end up doing. But yeah, it does feel like this thing is coming to an end soon. So go out, enjoy your Saturday. Maybe go look for some players you think they could trade for. I actually think it was a pretty fun exercise if you're looking for something to do on a Saturday. So until then, he's Elliot. I'm James. Talk to you guys later. eye!
