This week in Eagles: Fletcher Cox says farewell, a new TE added, Packers in Brazil

What’s the latest with the Eagles? A trip around some of the topics from this week ahead of our pre-draft blitz next week:

1. Fletcher Cox held a retirement press conference this week, one month after announcing he played his last season in the NFL. What first jumped out when entering the auditorium during his announcement was the amount of family he brought to Philadelphia. Cox is from Yazoo City, Miss., so it’s not like rounding up 20 people from Mulica Hill to stop by the team facility. 

“The reason I have my entire family here is because my entire family was at the draft when I got drafted,” Cox said, “so I wanted my entire family to be here when I retired.”

Cox’s 12 seasons with the Eagles placed him in rare company as an iconic player for the franchise. As I’ve said and written, Cox was the best player on the best team in Eagles history. That’s a distinction that will always remain. He also stayed productive until his final season and could have kept playing. His explanation was that every player must decide if this is what they still want to do, and he has no regrets with his decision to take time to enjoy life, watch his nieces and nephews play sports, and leave the game on his terms in good health.

“I gave this game all I could give,” Cox said, “and the game has given to me back.”

Cox often discusses how Philadelphia changed his life. He noted that he was 21 from a small town when he arrived, and his mother told him there was no coming back. He needed to figure out a way. In the end, he didn’t want to play anywhere else. He had other chances, but this was the only franchise and the city for his career. That was meaningful.

He wants his legacy in Philadelphia to be the “honest way I played the game” and the leadership he brought to the team. He’s thought about the possibility that he could be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, even discussing it with Howie Roseman on Tuesday morning. 

“It’s all in somebody else’s hands now,’ Cox said. “But hopefully one day, a few years from now, I’m putting on a gold jacket and I’ll be looking forward to it. And I’ll have the same exact family here and they’ll help me celebrate.”

The one that’s missing is his late brother, Shadrrick, who remains on Cox’s mind — and whose name is etched on Cox’s forearm. During that ceremony, when Cox considered what he achieved and the family who was in the auditorium, he thought about his brother.

“I’m doing everything the way that he would want me to do it, the way he would want me to have the entire family here,” Cox said. “He would want to be here. He’s always with me. Obviously, he’s tattooed on my forearm so he’s always with me. I know he’s appreciating it and he’s probably got his chest stuck out right now, how proud he is of his little brother … his little big brother.”

2. The Eagles will open the 2024 season against the Green Bay Packers on Friday, September 6, in São Paulo, Brazil, the NFL announced. The potential opponents came down to the Browns and the Packers, and the Packers were selected for the inaugural Brazil matchup. The Eagles last opened the season against Green Bay in 2010. This is the first time Jalen Hurts will start against Jordan Love, who was drafted ahead of Hurts in 2020. 

This technically counts as an Eagles home game, so there was speculation that the Eagles wouldn’t want to sacrifice a popular matchup against Green Bay at home. Of course, it’s not as if the Eagles need a box-office boost like other markets might when the Packers come to town. There might be frustration from Eagles fans about sending an important conference game overseas, although that’s part of the deal. This is not the Eagles relinquishing a home game on their own volition  — every NFL team must host an international game at least every years, so this is the Eagles’ turn in the cycle.

“As part of the international priority, every team is going to host a neutral game. …We stepped up and thought, ‘Let’s do it in South America and Brazil, a really dynamic country. And then we won’t be doing that as the rotation goes through’,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said. “But we are big supporters of trying to make the NFL a more popular game around the world. I think it’s really possible. We have marketing priority arrangements in Australia and New Zealand. We were the first in Africa — in Ghana. And we’ll be the first to host a game in Brazil, in South America.  Proud to be an ambassador for the NFL. I think it’s America’s most incredibly potential export. Most things in America that are really popular become extremely popular globally. The NFL hasn’t yet. It’s about to have a chance to be. To be a part of that, to represent our really good football team that’s exciting to watch will be great for Brazil, South America, and for the public to see down there.”

3. The Eagles added veteran tight end C.J. Uzomah on Thursday, giving them experienced depth behind Grant Calcaterra entering the draft. Uzomah, 31, is entering his 10th NFL season. He played the past two seasons with the Jets after his first seven years with the Bengals. 

At 6-foot-5 and 271 pounds, Uzomah becomes the biggest tight end on the roster and has been an effective intermediate passing game presence in his career. He ended last season on injured reserve because of a knee injury, so the Eagles would need to see how he looks post-injury. There’s opportunity behind Goedert after Jack Stoll’s departure. Grant Calcaterra and Albert Okwuegbunam are the top reserves. 

Don’t expect this to affect the Eagles’ draft plans. They like to draft-proof their roster and avoid glaring holes that must be filled in the draft. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Eagles added a tight end, although in a mediocre draft class, they could also punt to next year and get by with the group they have. But the commitment to Uzomah is not one that would inhibit the Eagles on draft weekend.

4. A revision to the NFL’s uniform policy will allow teams to add a third helmet to their rotation and could pave the way for black helmets to return for the Eagles. The Eagles waited a decade to wear kelly green jerseys again because they needed the NFL to allow a second helmet, figuring the kelly green would only work with kelly green helmets. But with two helmets permitted, the Eagles were restricted to midnight green and kelly green. Now that the NFL is allowing a third helmet, the Eagles could mix in black jerseys and black helmets as another alternate uniform.

Check back Monday for 10 consecutive days of comprehensive written draft coverage to go along with our daily PHLY Eagles show.