Michael Vick's New Contract: Does It Free Up Enough Cap Room for DeSean Jackson?

Michael Vick has signed a new six-year contract worth a whopping $100 million, with $40 million guaranteed. Many people have been anticipating this happening first in order to make cap room for a new contract for DeSean Jackson.

But will it?

According to the early word, Vick's salary cap number doesn't reduce that dramatically for 2011. In approximate numbers, he goes from about $16 million to $14 million against the cap for a savings of only about $2 million.

Prior to Vick's new deal, the Eagles had approximately $2.3 million left in cap room, according to eaglescap.com. So now it would appear as though they have $4.3 million, roughly.

Is that enough to redo Jackson's deal?

Not hardly. The Eagles will need to clear some more room if they intend on re-signing Jackson and have it count towards the 2011 cap.

There are a few key players we may see the Eagles part ways with in order to free up more cap space. Who could they be?

There have been reports that the Eagles are fielding offers for cornerback Joselio Hanson. Trading him would potentially save $2.4 million in cap space. With the current glut of talent at the cornerback position, Hanson is more than expendable.

Then there is another very real possibility that the Eagles could cut a player like defensive end Juqua Parker, whose current cap figure is $4.3 million. He's been hampered by a calf injury and hasn't seen the field in a few weeks.

The 33-year-old Parker could very well be replaced by a much cheaper player with higher upside, such as Philip Hunt.

Another veteran that could get the axe is defensive tackle Trevor Laws. His cap figure is $962,000 for 2011. But if you combine him with other players likely to be gone—such as Marlon Jackson ($685,000), Sinorice Moss ($525,000) and Johnnie Lee Higgins ($575,000)—that equates to roughly another $2 million in savings.

With those moves, which wouldn't truly hurt the on-field team, the Eagles would free up a total of approximately $8.7 million to add to the $4.3 million available after the Vick deal.

That comes to a grand total of $13 million in open cap space, which should certainly be enough to get the ball rolling on a DeSean Jackson contract.

If these player moves happen, we might reading about a new Jackson deal at this time one week from now. One can only hope!