At some point, Eagles' Fletcher Cox should be happy camper

Update: On Monday afternoon, Cox reported to Eagles minicamp.

THERE'S A good chance that by December, nobody will remember whether Fletcher Cox showed for mandatory minicamp. The team's most dominant player is going to play for the Eagles this season, probably with a new long-term contract, but possibly on the $7.799 million option year from his rookie deal, with some accompanying hard feelings.

But this is not December, and Cox's presence or absence Monday at NovaCare is the biggest issue on the late-spring horizon. Eagles players are scheduled to check in Monday for physicals ahead of the three-day minicamp that begins Tuesday, the last gathering of the team before the July 25 rookie reporting date for training camp.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Friday he expects defensive tackle Cox and running back Darren Sproles, who have sat out optional work, to show up, though in Cox's case, it didn't seem Pederson had gotten any assurances. Pederson indicated he hadn't heard otherwise, so he was counting on compliance. The buzz around the team has been that Cox might be reluctant to take the field without a new deal, even for unpadded minicamp, because of the risk of injury.

All indications are that Sproles' absence is not something fans need to be concerned about, that Sproles will show up for mandatory work, as he prepares to turn 33 on June 20. But nobody really knows for sure. Attempts to contact Sproles have not been successful.

Attempts to reach Cox and agent Todd France on Sunday also were unsuccessful. Cox has been cryptic on Twitter; on June 2, he tweeted "And the clock is still ticking," a musing that was retweeted 194 times. Then Cox tweeted, apparently facetiously, that he was talking about a seven-on-seven camp he is hosting for kids. Previously, Cox had tweeted stopwatch emojis.

The Eagles also had no comment Sunday. If they'd been told Cox was on his way, they probably would have wanted to share the happy news.

Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman has sought to emphasize his agreement with France and Cox, that the Pro Bowl defensive tackle is worth a superstar-level deal. Agent and media buzz holds that the Birds have offered a $60 million guarantee, but in the NFL, "guarantee" is a tricky word. Money that is guaranteed if you're on the roster after a certain future date isn't "guaranteed" in the real-world sense. There seems to be a substantial gulf between the sides in the guarantee over the first three years of the pact.

France also is the agent for Marcell Dareus, a Buffalo defensive tackle who was drafted third overall in 2011, the year before the Eagles traded up to take Cox with the 12th overall pick. Last September, Dareus signed a six-year extension that Spotrac.com values at $96,574,118. Of that, $60 million is guaranteed, but the initial guarantee, the money fully guaranteed up front, is $42.9 million.

Did France get everything he wanted with Dareus' deal? It might be worth noting that Dareus has been arrested and has a one-game substance-abuse suspension in his background, baggage Cox did not carry into these talks.

In April, after Howard Eskin reported the Eagles had offered to guarantee $60 million, Eskin opining that France was leading Cox astray by not agreeing to such a deal, France appeared on the "Mike & Ike Show" on 94WIP to take issue.

"To say a contract is worth - whatever, I'm gonna use $60 million guaranteed - and a certain amount of it he gets today, but the next year he gets some if he's on the roster, is guaranteed. And the next year he gets it guaranteed if he's on the roster then. And the next year he gets it if he's on the roster - those are year-to-year guarantees," France said.

"Any person that's got any intelligence to the football business will write and say, 'That really isn't X-amount guaranteed.' Because the team can do what? Get rid of the guy and cut him at any point and that quote-unquote guaranteed money, the player never really receives."

Eskin's report can probably be taken as an indication of Eagles' management's displeasure with the situation, which does not seem to have improved greatly in the last 2 1/2 months. There was no sign Sunday that the sides were close to the minicamp eve accord defensive end Brandon Graham said Friday he was hoping could be hammered out.

Does it really matter if Cox reports this week? It would be reassuring, but no. Cox is under contract this season and the Eagles can franchise-tag him for two years after that, so ultimately, his leverage is limited. He has not practiced in new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz's system, but Cox played in a 4-3/Wide 9 setup as an Eagles rookie, and his position is one of the least complicated.

Cox is Schwartz's best player, so it will matter if he, say, holds out of training camp, then shows up out of shape and/or disgruntled. But we're months away from anything like that.

The Eagles can fine Cox $76,580 if he skips all three days this week. Pederson refused to say if he would do that when asked Friday about consequences. Often in such cases, the fine goes uncollected if the player ultimately signs a new contract.

In the meantime, Cox's absence has helped the Eagles get a better feel for their depth at defensive tackle, one of the positions most affected by the switch from 3-4 to 4-3. Beau Allen, drafted in 2014 as a gap-filling nose tackle, has pared his body-fat percentage in an attempt to be more viable in a 4-3.

Asked about spring standouts on Friday, Pederson spoke of "some defensive linemen in there that have really shown flashes of giving us depth at that position."

Center Jason Kelce, asked Friday who has impressed him, said: "Mike Martin . . . has given tremendous effort, each and every day. I would be doing him a disservice if I didn't point out how much he has stood out in these OTAs, the effort level he has brought."

Martin, 6-1, 298, the Titans' third-round pick in 2012, signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in free agency. He'd played nose tackle in a 3-4 in Tennessee and thought his quickness and aggressiveness might be more suited to a 4-3.

"To have an opportunity to play in a defense like this, that I feel fits my playing style very well, is a huge opportunity for me," Martin said. "I just want to make sure I capitalize on it as best I can."

@LesBowen

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