Fletcher Cox's contract a done deal

THE EAGLES adjourned until training camp last Thursday with one major piece of business left hanging.

They took care of it Monday evening, when the team announced agreement with defensive tackle Fletcher Cox on a six-year contract. The Eagles provided no details, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported it was for $103 million, with a $63 million guarantee. That's the biggest guarantee in NFL history for anyone who isn't a quarterback, but it's pretty much where observers expected the deal to land.

Cox, 25, made the Pro Bowl last season, is the team's most dominant player and is among the top handful of NFL defensive linemen.

He and agent Todd France are believed to have turned down an Eagles offer pretty much identical to the six-year, $96,574,118 contract France negotiated for Buffalo defensive tackle Marcell Dareus last September. Dareus got $60 million in guaranteed money, but only $42.9 million was initially guaranteed - not contingent on Dareus being on the roster at a specific date.

The most overall money given a defensive lineman is the $114.375 million Miami handed defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in 2015. Suh's guarantee was just under $60 million.

Cox reportedly is getting a $26 million signing bonus.

Cox was scheduled to play this season under the $7.799 million option clause in his rookie contract, signed after the Eagles made him the 12th overall pick in the 2012 draft.

Eagles vice president Howie Roseman and France have been negotiating a long-term agreement for several months. Roseman insisted all along Cox would be an Eagle for years to come, and ultimately, he was able to make that happen. Cox sat out Organized Team Activities because the deal wasn't done, but he showed up last week for mandatory minicamp. Though he avoided a fine by doing so, there was talk that Cox would not have come in had the sides not been close. He did not participate in team drills, with Eagles coach Doug Pederson's blessing.

Pederson foreshadowed Monday's news when he told reporters last week: "I'm fully confident that something will be done before camp." And Cox said he was expecting to be at camp.

The Eagles said there would be no comment from Roseman or Pederson until later in the week, when Cox signs the deal. He is expected to speak then as well. Monday, Cox tweeted: "WHAT A TIME!!!!! and "I would like to thank Mr. (owner Jeffrey) Lurie and the whole Eagles organization."

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog