Following Nick Foles' breakout season, the Philadelphia Eagles are doing everything they can to keep his supporting cast intact. Having locked up Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters on Wednesday, the team re-signed wideout Riley Cooper on Thursday to a five-year, $25 million deal, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
NFL 2014 free agent roundup: Eagles re-sign Riley Cooper, Colts looking at Eric Decker
Philly has locked in Cooper with a five-year contract and is closing in on re-signing Jeremy Maclin. Elsewhere, the Colts are reportedly interested in Eric Decker and the recently released D’Qwell Jackson is garnering a lot of attention.
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The Eagles have confirmed the deal is five years but have not commented on the dollar amount.
Philly is also on the verge of retaining Jeremy Maclin, who is expected to sign a one-year "prove it" contract coming off of an ACL tear, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane.
With Maclin sidelined for the entirety of 2013, Cooper stepped into the Eagles’ No. 2 wideout position and had a career-best season. He put up 47 receptions, 835 yards and eight touchdowns, each of which at least doubled his previous best. Inking a new contract would be the climax of a turnaround for a man who was nearly booted from the team last offseason for his racial slur scandal.
Philly is expected to release wideout Jason Avant.
The Eagles have also agreed to a $37.5 million extension that will keep center Jason Kelce in Philly for an additional six years, ESPN's Adam Caplan reports.
Colts interested in Eric Decker
The Indianapolis Colts are among several teams interested in signing soon-to-be free agent Eric Decker, according to Vic Lombardi of CBS4.
The Colts' passing game struggled to replace Reggie Wayne after a torn ACL ended his 2013 season, and with the veteran turning 36 next season, it's time to start looking for long-term replacements. The team has a host of young, promising receivers -- most notably T.Y. Hilton -- but may be looking to add a big name in free agency.
Decker put up career highs in receptions and yardage while posting his second consecutive double-digit touchdown season. However, there are concerns over how much of that production is attributable to Peyton Manning and whether or not Decker can truly be a No. 1 wide receiver. He'll come with a hefty price tag, so the Colts will have to carefully consider their investment.
Andrew Luck in support of Jonathan Martin joining Colts
Decker isn't the only addition the Colts should be looking at, at least in the opinion of the team's starting quarterback. Andrew Luck, who played with Jonathan Martin at Stanford, told Pro Football Talk he would be 100 percent behind bringing his college teammate to Indy if he departs the Miami Dolphins.
“I’d say I love Jon, we had a great time at Stanford together, still stay in touch with him regularly and I think he’s a great man,” Luck said.
Luck said he last talked to Martin “probably a couple days ago.”
As far as locker room environments go, Martin couldn't do much better than Indianapolis, which is heavy on former Cardinal. In addition to Luck, Coby Fleener, Griff Whalen and Delano Howell all played at Stanford, and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton had the same job at Stanford while Martin was there.
Luck admitted there have been no internal talks about signing Martin, so there is no indication that the Colts front office is considering the move.
Anthony Castonzo had a strong year at left tackle, so Martin would most likely play a reserve role if he did make the move to Indy.
D'Qwell Jackson drawing heavy interest around the league
Longtime Cleveland Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson was released on Wednesday, but don't expect him to be out of a job for long. Seven teams have already reached out to Jackson, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
The former second-round pick is reportedly mulling over which free agent visits to take. He told Pro Football Talk that he hopes to go “somewhere else where there’s a little bit more stability and a situation that’s a little bit better for me.”
After eight years in the Browns circus -- where he saw five different head coaches -- organizational stability would be a nice change of pace.
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