Fletcher Cox signs rookie deal with Eagles

Fletcher Cox has had a lot on his mind in the last week. In between meeting his new Eagles teammates and learning the playbook, he had to deal with the tragic death of his cousin. One day he was in Mississippi comforting his family, the next he was at minicamp.

Well, the roller coaster continued yesterday as Cox inked a four-year deal with the Birds. The team’s top draft pick (No. 12 overall) will report to Lehigh University, on time, when rookies and selected veterans report on July 22.

“First off, I want to thank Coach Reid, Mr. Lurie and Howie Roseman,” Cox said yesterday. “My mindset is just doing what I’m coached to do, and that’s playing hard and being relentless.”

When asked about his contract situation last Thursday, Cox expressed no concern. The tackle-end hybrid said his agent was working hard and he didn’t expect to miss the start of training camp.

“If you miss three days, get three days behind, you miss a lot,” Cox said. “We didn’t want to do that. I talk with my agent a lot, he said the deal would get done way before training camp. I trusted my agent to get it done and he got it done.”

Cox will spend the next month training with his college coach in Mississippi. He also plans to do something special for his family, especially his mom.

“I’ll do something special for them,” he said. “But my most important thing is playing football.”