PHILADELPHIA — The recent Sunday Ticket lawsuit in which the NFL will have to pay billions if and/or when the appeals process is exhausted is the kind of thing that won’t really be on the minds of the average NFL fan, especially as the 2024 season approaches.
The lawsuit and the current offseason edition of “Hard Knocks,” which has followed the New York Giants and that team’s decision to let former franchise face Saquon Barkley defect to the division-rival Eagles, have dominated headlines over the past week.
Those who often portray Giants general manager Joe Schoen in a negative light, especially when compared to his Eagles counterpart, the highly respected Howie Roseman.
Offensive lineman Justin Pugh, a 2013 first-round pick of the Giants who grew up in Holland, Pennsylvania, as an Eagles fan, was one of the most astute pundits on the show, explaining the obvious but often overlooked sentiment that not all situations are created equal in the NFL.
“It’s unfair to compare how the Giants spend to the Eagles,” Pugh wrote on X.com.
The hard blows of the giants
It is unfair to compare how the @Giants spend against @EaglesThe Eagles are taking more risk by putting money up front and spreading out signing bonuses. They reached out to these players and it worked but…
This Sunday Ticket trial could have a negative impact on…
— Justin Pugh (@JustinPugh) July 3, 2024
The veteran, who returned for his 11th NFL season as an emergency signing for the Giants last season, ignored the status of both organizations in terms of competitiveness in 2024 and headed straight for the Sunday Ticket and the overarching front-office philosophies tied to owners Jeffrey Lurie and the Mara family.
“The Eagles are taking more risk by putting money up front and spreading out signing bonuses,” Pugh said. “They’ve reached out to these players and it’s worked out, but … this lawsuit against Sunday Ticket could have a negative impact on the salary cap and hurt big-spending teams like the Eagles and Browns.”
Pugh is right again in that the Eagles are relying on proactive ownership’s willingness to take financial risks in an environment where the NFL’s financial clout seems stronger than ever.
The Giants and most other teams are more conservative and mindful of potential rainy days like the short-term impact of COVID-19 on the cap and say a potential lawsuit settlement will reach well over $10 billion in the future if nothing changes.
“[The Eagles] “We expect the cap to increase every year,” Pugh noted. “We’ll see how that goes.”
Even a $10 billion+ hit coming will only be short term for this league, so Lurie and the Eagles appear to be the ones with a head start when it comes to decision-making.
The much-discussed decision to sign Barkley to a three-year, $37.75 million deal may not work from a football standpoint. From a financial standpoint, it would be a small mistake, even if Barkley contributes little.
“They bypass the accounting aspect [by] “By adding extra years,” Pugh wisely noted. “Once they get into those years of big salary cap increases, they renegotiate and add extra years. It’s a great strategy, to be honest. The owner has to sign because he has to invest a lot of cash first.”
Pugh, meanwhile, also dropped an interesting note when he explained that he could have signed with the Eagles last season as a potential short-term replacement for Cam Jurgens, who missed five games early in the season with a foot injury.
“I grew up an Eagles fan,” Pugh said before pledging his loyalty to the team that drafted him. “I wish they would lose every game. The problem is, I’m also a bargain hunter and [Roseman] It’s really good. I put my body on the line for the Giants last year. And I’ll do it again this year if the opportunity presents itself.
“I could have signed with the Eagles last year and I [chose] “No, not at all. They were 7-0 at the time too.”
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