HEADLINES

Trent Cole

Eagles Release Trent Cole

March 4th, 2015 at 3:08pm CST by Luke Adams

WEDNESDAY, 3:08pm: The Eagles made the move official today, announcing (via Twitter) that Cole has been cut.

TUESDAY, 4:26pm: Despite initially engaging in discussions to keep him around on a reworked contract, the Eagles are expected to part ways with Trent Cole, according to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (via Twitter). Although the move isn’t official yet, two league sources tell Mosher that the club will eventually release the veteran edge defender. Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets that it’s expected to become official within the next 24 hours.

Cole, 32, has been a fixture on the Eagles’ defense since being selected by the club in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. During his 10 years in Philadelphia, Cole has played 155 games (145 starts), racking up 85.5 sacks, 569 tackles, and 19 forced fumbles. After posting six consecutive seasons with eight or more sacks from 2006 to 2011, Cole’s production has fallen off in recent years — he has just 17.5 sacks since 2012.

Cole’s cap number had been set to jump from $6.6MM in 2014 to $11.625MM for the coming year, meaning the Eagles needed to address it. With only $3.2MM in prorated bonus money left on the deal, Philadelphia can create $8.425MM in cap savings by parting ways with the veteran.

While the additional cap room created by cutting Cole could be put toward retaining another edge defender, Brandon Graham, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that Graham is 99.9% likely to test the open market. Mosher had reported earlier this afternoon (via Twitter) that talks between the Eagles and both Cole and Graham weren’t progressing very well.

Eagles Notes: McCoy, Cole, Maclin

March 2nd, 2015 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Eagles haven’t approached running back LeSean McCoy about restructuring his contract, two sources close to the situation tell Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Agent Drew Rosenhaus has since confirmed McLane’s report, as Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Not taking into account Adrian Peterson‘s $15.4MM cap number, which figures to be addressed at some point, McCoy’s $11.95MM figure for 2015 makes him the only running back with an eight-digit cap hit, which makes the deal a candidate to be restructured. So far though, it doesn’t seem as if there’s any urgency on the team’s part.

Here’s more on McCoy and the Eagles:

  • As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes, McCoy’s contract doesn’t include any bonuses or guarantees in March, so there’s no real rush for the Eagles to do anything with it. Practically speaking, if the Eagles want to adjust the running back’s deal, they’ll probably do so before the offseason program begins, but they don’t necessarily have to until closer to the regular season.
  • While there have been no contract talks yet with McCoy, the Eagles have engaged in discussions with veteran edge defender Trent Cole to bring him back for the 2015 season, a source tells Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advance Media. Cole’s $11.625MM cap number is Philadelphia’s second-largest for 2015, behind McCoy’s, making him a candidate to be released if the two sides can’t reach an agreement to reduce that figure.
  • Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com lays out the possible outcomes for Jeremy Maclin‘s contract situation with the Eagles, examining the possibility of a long-term contract, a franchise or transition tag, or the wideout hitting the open market. Philadelphia has until 3:00pm central time today to tag Maclin, if the team decides to go that route.

New Year’s Roundup: Jets, Coaches, Colston

January 1st, 2015 at 8:55pm CST by Rory Parks

The Jets are moving very quickly in their search for a new GM, tweets Brian Costello of the New York Post. The team interviewed Browns personnel executive Bill Kuharich in New Jersey this morning and is currently interviewing Seahawks director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner. Citing a league source, Costello also tweets that New York plans to interview Texans director of college scouting Mike Maccagnan and Eagles director of pro personnel Rick Mueller on Sunday or Monday. Costello reiterates (via Twitter) that the Jets would like to hire a GM before making a decision on a new head coach, but they of course must stay active in the head coaching market lest they lose a top candidate to another club. According to another tweet from Costello, one of the most significant questions the Jets are asking GM candidates is what coaches they would like to work with.

As much of the country fixates on the Sugar Bowl, let’s take a look at a few other notes from around the league:

  • John Mullin of CSNChicago.com notes a couple of early patterns in the Bears‘ search for a new head coach and GM, pointing out that the early coaching candidates “have a preponderance of winning in their immediate pasts” and that the team is not concerned whether their new coach has more of an offensive or defensive pedigree.
  • Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun Times examines the most important early decisions the Bears‘ new GM must make, which include determinations on the respective futures of Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall and how to handle the looming free agency of Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte, both of whom are entering the final year of their current contracts.
  • ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Washington, seeking to fill its newly-vacant defensive coordinator position, is setting up interviews with 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, 49ers DB coach Ed Donatell, and Chargers linebackers coach Joe Barry.
  • Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com looks at some of the Eagles‘ potential cap casualties, including James Casey, Trent Cole, and Cary Williams.
  • With a new mega-deal in his near future, Cowboys star wideout Dez Bryant is focused on Sunday’s playoff game against the Lions, not his next contract, writes Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today. Byrant said, “I’m just going to keep working. I can’t worry about the contract.”
  • Saints wide receiver Marques Colston knows his future in New Orleans is up in the air, and Mike Triplett of ESPN.com writes that, although Colston would like to stay with the only team he has ever known, he may be released or asked to take a pay cut with two years remaining on his current contract. If asked to take a reduction in pay, Colston said his relationship with Drew Brees and Sean Payton would play a role in his decision.
  • Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 tweets that the Buccaneers are expected to request an interview with Titans tight ends coach Mike Mularkey for their vacant offensive coordinator position.

 

NFC East Notes: Dez, Eagles, Washington

December 29th, 2014 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

Suggesting that reports about the Cowboys‘ off-field concerns about Dez Bryant are exaggerated, team owner Jerry Jones tells Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com that “nobody in the world” knows about his concerns for a potential Bryant contract extension besides Jones and executive VP Stephen Jones. As Jones puts it, there are concerns for any pricey, long-term deal, not just Bryant’s.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever signed a contract that I didn’t have things to worry about, but nobody talked about them,” Jones said. “You can’t make business decisions, especially multi-million dollar business decisions without having a nice little worry list over on the right. Everybody does. So it’s wrong to say that that is an issue. That’s not an issue relative to overall getting it done. We just want to get it done.”

Here’s more from around the NFC East:

  • Eagles general manager Howie Roseman received praise from head coach Chip Kelly, who says Roseman does “an outstanding job” managing the cap, as Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com details. More importantly, Roseman got an endorsement from owner Jeffrey Lurie, who said the GM has done a great job, and will be back for 2015, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
  • Speaking today to reporters, including Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link), Kelly said it will be a priority for the team to retain running back LeSean McCoy, wideout Jeremy Maclin, and outside linebacker Brandon Graham this offseason. Meanwhile, as McLane tweets (Twitter link), Trent Cole said he’d be willing to rework his contract to return to the Eagles.
  • Washington wide receiver Santana Moss will turn 36 in the summer, and doesn’t have a contract for 2015, but he thinks he can still play in the NFL, and will attempt to continue his career, preferably in Washington, writes Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com.
  • Quarterback Robert Griffin III would also like to stick with Washington, despite an up and down 2014 season, says Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Unlike Moss, Griffin is under contract for another year, but he has been cited as a potential trade candidate, given his seemingly shaky relationship with head coach Jay Gruden.
  • Washington running back Roy Helu believes there’s a 50/50 chance he re-signs with the team, telling John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he’s excited about the possibility of hitting the open market.
  • Washington will take a few days before making any decisions one way or the other on the members of Gruden’s staff, including defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, Jones writes for the Post.

Trent Cole Wants To Retire With Eagles

December 24th, 2014 at 2:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Trent Cole wants to accomplish something notables like Reggie White, Brian Dawkins, and Donovan McNabb couldn’t – spend his entire career with the Eagles from beginning to end. Even though his contract could complicate matters, the veteran outside linebacker wants to retire with the Eagles, as Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com writes.

Cole will turn 32 next season, his salary doubles to $10MM, and the Eagles have already begun talks with backup outside linebacker Brandon Graham, who intends to start somewhere next season. All in all, it could be an uphill climb for Cole and Eagles to stay together in 2015 and beyond. Mosher suggests that if they can’t hammer out a deal with Graham and they’re unsure of whether struggling rookie Marcus Smith is ready for primetime, they could keep him around for at least one more year on a more palatable deal. But, when asked if he’d redo his deal, Cole said, “That’s something I can’t comment about.”

For his career, Cole’s 85.5 sacks rank second in franchise history, behind White’s 124.

Injury Updates: Monday

December 15th, 2014 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

With just two weeks left in the NFL regular season, injuries that may not have been long-term problems earlier in the year could now end a player’s season. We’ll keep tabs right here on the latest updates on the ailments that could prompt roster moves or significantly alter a team’s plans:

  • While several players will be placed on injured reserve lists this week, ending their seasons, one player will come off IR — Bills running back C.J. Spiller is expected to be activated from IR-DTR, though it’s not clear how much of a role he’ll have for Buffalo in Week 16, or if he’ll even play (Twitter link).
  • A source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) that Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall suffered a mid-foot sprain, and Mike Klis of the Denver Post writes that Marshall is expected to miss a week or two with the injury. While Marshall should return this season, fellow Denver linebacker Danny Trevathan won’t, according to Klis, who says Trevathan dislocated his left kneecap and will have to undergo surgery.
  • Lions right tackle LaAdrian Waddle partially tore his ACL yesterday and will miss the rest of the season, says Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
  • Eagles outside linebacker Trent Cole has a broken hand, and his status for the rest of the season is uncertain, a source tells Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
  • Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said today on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas that running back DeMarco Murray will have surgery on a broken bone in his hand (Twitter link via SiriusXM NFL Radio). Providing specifics on the injury, Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com notes (via Twitter) that Emmitt Smith once missed a game after undergoing a similar surgery. It sounds as if Murray will be questionable for Week 16, but shouldn’t miss much – if any – time.
  • Key 49ers special teamer Kassim Osgood also broke a bone in his hand and likely won’t play in the club’s final two games, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
  • Chargers linebacker Donald Butler dislocated his left elbow and is a candidate for IR, according to head coach Mike McCoy, who says the club is exploring its options (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune).