Here’s a look at the latest out of Philly:
- Darren Sproles reported to the Eagles on Monday in advance of the team’s mandatory minicamp, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. When asked about his absence, Sproles chalked it up to “family stuff.” Recently, we learned that the Eagles fielded trade inquiries for the running back during the draft and Sproles’ absence from OTAs – according to some reports – was related. Sproles, 32, saw time in every game last season and made four starts. In that span, the veteran ran for just 317 yards off of 83 carries but also contributed 55 receptions for 388 yards. For his contributions in the rushing, receiving, and return game, Sproles earned his second-straight Pro Bowl nod in 2015.
- In related news, Eagles coach Doug Pederson says that he expects Fletcher Cox to also attend the team’s minicamp, though he has not seen him yet (Twitter link via Jimmy Kempski of The Philly Voice). Cox, 25, enjoyed a career-year in 2015, setting a new career high with 9.5 sacks. He also racked up 71 tackles, three forced fumbles, and a pair of fumble recoveries. The performance earned the former first-round pick his first Pro Bowl nod, along with a top-10 spot on Pro Football Focus’ rankings of interior defenders — he placed ninth out of 123 qualified players.
- Tim McManus of Philadelphia Magazine explained why the talks are dragging on between the Eagles and Cox. For starters, agent Todd France knows that his client is one of the top defensive players in the game and at 25, he has tons of room to grow. France also reps Marcell Dareus, who netted a six-year deal with $25MM signing bonus and an average of $16MM per season. The Eagles know that they’ll have to back up a Brinks truck to sign Cox long-term, but the two sides are going to have to haggle it out a bit first. Meanwhile, multiple sources say that the Eagles have a sizable contract on the table, McManus writes, and he feels that the defensive tackle will get around $60MM guaranteed mark and won’t fall far from Dareus’ $16MM/year salary.