Eagles to release Trent Cole

The Eagles will release linebacker Trent Cole sometime over the next few days, a source close to the situation said.

CSNPhilly.com was first with the report.

The Eagles and Cole had been negotiating a restructure of his contract, but could not come to terms. He was slated to earn $10 million in base salary next season and would have cost $11.625 million against the salary cap. Cole knew that was a large number for a 32-year-old edge rusher and had said he was willing to rework his deal.

But he should be more valuable on the open market as a 4-3 defensive end -- his long-time position -- than the Eagles were likely to pay him in his third season as a 3-4 outside linebacker. Free agency opens on Tuesday.

The Eagles had no comment. Cole didn't respond to calls for comment but did subversively tweet the following: "Taking trip to new hunting grounds that I'll have chance at trophy of a lifetime!"

By releasing Cole the Eagles will save $8.425 million against the cap and eat $3.2 million in dead money. They have approximately $41 million in cap space.

Cole isn't the only outside linebacker that won't be back for the Eagles. The team has tried to work a deal out with free agent Brandon Graham, but he will enter the market baring a last ditch effort from the Eagles, an NFL source said on Tuesday.

The Eagles could be willing to up their offer to Graham with Cole leaving, but he will likely get significantly more on the market as a 4-3 end as well. The Eagles will have only four remaining outside linebackers under contract -- Connor Barwin, Marcus Smith, Bryan Braman and Travis Long.

Cole was the longest-tenured Eagle after guard Todd Herremans was released last week. Both were drafted in 2005. He will leave the Eagles second on the team's all-time sack list behind Hall of Famer Reggie White. Cole had 85-1/2 sacks in ten seasons to White's 124 sacks in eight seasons with the Eagles.

Earlier Tuesday, the Eagles announced that they released cornerback Cary Williams.