March 13, 2017
After agreeing to terms with quarterback Nick Foles earlier today, current backup quarterback Chase Daniel is expected to be released by the Philadelphia Eagles, according to a report by Tim McManus and Adam Caplan of ESPN.
With the signing of Foles, Chase Daniel has asked the Eagles to release him and the team is expected to do so Monday, a source told ESPN's Adam Caplan.
The Eagles have been working to trade Daniel in recent days to a team that would benefit the veteran signal caller, but both sides felt the decision to release him now was mutually beneficial. The Eagles and Daniel's representatives will work on potentially adjusting his contract to benefit both parties.
Had the Eagles found a trade partner for Daniel they would have saved $6 million of the $8 million he would have counted against the cap in 2017. Instead, the Eagles will only immediately save $1 million, with $7 million in dead money.
However, a chunk of his cap hit may only be temporary. There are offsets in Daniel's contract, which means that the Eagles will not be on the hook for whatever Daniel makes with his new team.
If released, Chase Daniel’s $5M guaranteed salary does contain offsets, meaning his next salary will be subtracted from #Eagles dead cap.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 13, 2017
In other words, if you're an Eagles fan, you should be hoping that Daniel gets a lucrative deal with his new team.
The appeal of trading Daniel was saving cap space, not necessarily getting whatever junk the Eagles would have received in return for him. However, by releasing Daniel, (A) the Eagles may have to wait until 2018 to realize that cap savings, and (B) they will likely not save the same amount that they would have in a trade.
The hefty deal to sign Daniel in the first place, while maybe mildly helpful to some degree to Carson Wentz's progression, is looking more and more like a terrible use of financial resources.
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