Teambuilding 101: Pay for the best

Today, I am taking a quick break from my QB prospect profile series to write a different article. A lot of my recent content consumption has led me to wonder where data plays a role in decision-making in sports teams and the value of players. Let’s take a quick step into soccer, which I promise will return to the NFL.

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The Soccer Bit

Specifically, as a Liverpool FC fan, Florian Wirtz's transfer is about to (maybe already has by the time of publishing) become the most expensive transfer in English soccer history. For those who do not know how this process works, a soccer club can go to any other club and buy out a player's contract, sometimes for set fees that were stated in the initial contract, other times for negotiated sums.

For context, Liverpool is not known for doing this as a club. They rarely spend large sums on transfers and have often been accused of being cheap, with their owners, Fenway Sports Group, looking to maintain a self-sustaining business model for the club. They do this by having been one of the first clubs to have an internal data division that looked for inefficiencies and opportunities in the player market. The head of FSG, John Henry, had a lot of experience doing this with his Moneyball approach that brought the Red Sox to four World Series titles since he bought the team in 2002.

So with that reputation, why would the club sign Florian Wirtz? It’s simple, you pay whatever you must to acquire the top talent when you have the opportunity.

The Football Bit

Now that you see what my brain has been thinking about for the past three weeks, let’s examine how this mantra applies to the Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning Super Bowl Champions.

Total Cash Rankings

Since the Eagles do some real wizardry regarding contracts, looking at total cash makes it a little bit easier to tell how much they are spending on certain players. Here is the breakdown of every starter on the roster not on a rookie contract.

Total Cash Ranking by Position:

Jalen Hurts: 6th most by QBs

Saquon Barkley: Most by RBs

AJ Brown: 5th most by WRs

Dallas Goedert: 15th Most by TEs

Jordan Mailata: 9th Most for LTs

Lane Johnson: 5th Most for RTs

Cam Jurgens: 3rd Most for Cs

Landon Dickerson: 27th most for Gs (though he is in the first year of a 4-year $80 million extension that will rocket him up the rankings)

Zach Baun: 2nd Most for ILBs

When they have a top player, they pay for them.

Acquisition of Top Talent

We all know that, unlike in soccer, you cannot pay to break the contracts of NFL players on other teams to have them come and join your team. There are only three ways to acquire players: through trades, free agency, and, most importantly, the draft.

I mentioned earlier the necessity of being aggressive in the acquisition of talent, and you can see that in all of those players who signed for a lot of money, too.

Jalen Hurts: Drafted with a 2nd round pick when the team already had a starter in Carson Wentz

Saquon Barkley: Free Agency

AJ Brown: Traded a 1st and 3rd-round pick

Dallas Goedert: Drafted with a 2nd round pick that was acquired in a trade, when the team already had Zach Ertz as its starter

Jordan Mailata: Drafted in the 7th round in a pick that was acquired in a trade

Lane Johnson: Drafted 4th overall

Cam Jurgens: Drafted in the 2nd round, eyed to be the successor at C to Jason Kelce

Landon Dickerson: Drafted in the 2nd round, eyed to be the successor at C to Jason Kelce

Zach Baun: Free Agency

If you include the rest of the starting roster, you can see just how aggressive Howie Roseman and the Eagles have been.

DeVonta Smith: Drafted 10th overall with a pick that was acquired in a trade

Jahan Dotson: Acquired via trade for a 5th round pick

Tyler Steen: Drafted with a 3rd round pick that was acquired in a trade

Jordan Davis: Drafted 13th overall

Jalen Carter: Drafted with a 1st round pick that was acquired in a trade

Nolan Smith: Drafted 30th overall

Jalyx Hunt: Drafted with a 3rd round pick that was acquired in a trade

Jihaad Campbell: Drafted with a 1st round pick that was acquired in a trade

Cooper DeJean: Drafted with a 2nd round pick that was acquired in a trade

Quinyon Mitchell: Drafted in the 1st Round

Kelee Ringo: Drafted with a 4th round pick that was acquired in a trade

Reed Blankenship: UDFA

Andrew Makuba: Drafted in the 2nd round

The Eagles were rarely happy to stay in place and let talent fall to them; instead, they stayed aggressive in their accumulation of talent. When they saw top talent, they made sure to pay for it.

The lack of a Middle Class

This has also led to the Eagles not bothering to compete for what is often referred to as the NFL’s middle class. Think of the Jerry Jeudy $17 million a year contracts that are right in line for good, but not elite WRs. The only contract on the entire team that could be classified as middle class is Dallas Goedert, and it would be reasonable to argue that the contract is fair market value for someone of his abilities.

It can also be seen in the moves the Eagles made this off-season. They let Josh Sweat and Milton Williams walk out the door for contracts that looked like they would end up in the middle class (Milton Williams ended up getting PAID but we will see if it was worth it). Then they traded one of the last middle class contracts they had in CJ Gardner-Johnson to the Texans for Kenyon Green (on a rookie deal) and a pick swap.

What does it all mean?

Pay great players and be as aggressive as you can be to go acquire them. The Eagles seem to think that middle class contracts provide significantly less value than rookie deals and the most expensive deals. They just won a Super Bowl with this approach, and it remains to be seen if it is a sustainable model in the long run, but it might not be a good idea to try and replicate it.

P.S. I know this does not talk about the value of rookie deals and of the draft in general, but I will save that for another day.