NFC East Links: Cole, McCourty, Murray

Recently released defensive end/linebacker Trent Cole has two AFC visits lined up following the abrupt conclusion of his Eagles tenure, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN. Cole will visit the Colts and Browns in hopes to book another contract after playing in Philadelphia for 10 seasons.

The Browns meeting comes Sunday, per the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot on Twitter.

One of several Eagles veterans jettisoned in Chip Kelly‘s recent purge, Cole has four double-digit sack seasons with the most recent coming in 2011 when he played defensive end. However, as an outside backer, Cole still graded well, finishing as Pro Football Focus’ No. 7 end in 2013 (subscription required).

Cole, who drew frequent double-teams to help Jason Babin accrue 18 sacks for the Eagles in 2011, has been durable as well, playing in at least 15 games in each of his 10 seasons.

Some more new from around the NFC East …

  • The Eagles’ newfound cap room of $36MM+ will make them aggressive suitors for Devin McCourty and Byron Maxwell, per Yahoo’s Charles Robinson on Twitter. The two Super Bowl starters are probably the top two players at safety and corner, respectively, and could well sign for eight figures per year, making both landing in the same spot unlikely.
  • Washington longtime pass-rusher Brian Orakpo will likely test the market after being franchised last season, but the Washington Post’s Mike Jones (Twitter link) heard from two sources he could remain in D.C. with the door staying open for a reunion. The ex-GEICO pitchman ranks 19th among PFR’s top 50 free agents.
  • With $25MM+ of cap space, Washington still has intriguing free agents Roy Helu and Leonard Hankerson, among others, and ESPN’s John Keim examines what he’s hearing thus far in “soft” free agency.
  • Derek Newton also drew the interest from D.C., Jones tweets, while the Eagles were Kareem Jackson admirers, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane (Twitter).
  • DeMarco Murray‘s path probably leads out of town with Dez Bryant‘s tag mincing their cap room down to inside of $4MM, but Yahoo’s Rand Getlin tweeted Murray could give the Cowboys a “meaningful” discount as the 2014 rushing leader understands what another title would mean in Dallas (Twitter post).
  • The Giants will go after the market’s top safeties, McCourty and Rahim Moore, writes NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan, while exploring the possibility of an Eli Manning extension to help create room to go after some of this year’s big names. Big Blue has just $12.7MM worth of space, per OverTheCap.
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