Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks"didn't know what to think" when the team dangled him as trade bait prior to the draft. Philly's Fletcher Cox also heard his name bubble up in swap discussions, but the emergent defensive lineman didn't let it frazzle him.
"It would have been a distraction if I was to let that bother me or put me one step behind," Cox said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I'm not trying to take one step backwards, I want to take one step forward every day. My job here is to play football and that's the most important thing to me."
Eagles coach Chip Kelly has denied that veteran players were up for grabs, but NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Media's Albert Breer reported in April that at least four players -- Cox, Kendricks, defensive back Brandon Boykin and offensive lineman Evan Mathis -- were viewed as attainable by other teams.
Kelly went out of his way to call up Cox and other players whispered about, per the Inquirer, leaving the fourth-year defender to downplay the threat of still being shipped away, saying: "I'll leave that up to my agent, Todd France. I'm here to play."
By now, we expect Cox to stay with the Eagles, who picked up his $7.799 million fifth-year option for 2016. At just 24, the former first-rounder has developed into one of the NFL's most disruptive and complete 3-4 ends. He's the brand of player Kelly should build around instead of shuffling off the roster.
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