Eagles release tight end James Casey, save $4 million

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INDIANAPOLIS — To the surprise of nobody, the Eagles on Thursday released reserve tight end James Casey.

Casey, who was scheduled to earn $4 million in base salary this year, signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Eagles during the 2013 free agency period.

He's earned $8 million of that — $3.3 million in bonus money and base salaries of $715,000 and $3.985 million — but really was little more than a high-paid special teamer during his Eagles tenure.

“I was fired by the Eagles today,” Casey tweeted. "Thank you to the entire organization, my teammates, coaches and all the fans for 2 great years.”

Because his bonus money came in the form of a reporting bonus and not a signing bonus, Casey does not count at all against the Eagles' 2015 cap. They save the full $4 million of his base salary against their 2015 cap.

Casey, 30, caught as many as 34 passes in a season with the Texans, but once the Eagles drafted Zach Ertz to play alongside Brent Celek, Casey really didn’t have much of a role on offense.

He caught six passes for 90 yards in 32 games with the Eagles with two touchdowns, both last year.

Casey played 154 snaps on offense last year and 170 this year. Both represented 14 percent of the Eagles’ offensive snaps in those seasons.

But Casey was a big part of the NFL’s best special teams unit. He finished second on the team with 13 special teams tackles, blocked a punt against the Giants that Trey Burton returned for a touchdown and blocked a punt against the Rams that Chris Maragos returned for a TD.

Casey spent three years in the Chicago White Sox’s minor-league system before playing football at Rice.

Celek and Ertz are both signed through 2016, and the Eagles are also high on Burton, an undrafted free agent from Florida who is also signed through 2016.

 

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