Bittersweet month for Eagles rookie.

One week ago Fletcher Cox felt as discombobulated as a first-round draft pick can be.

Cox had worked his way into the starting rotation at defensive tackle and was looking forward to the Eagles' minicamp.

His life changed forever when his cousin Melvin Baker was killed in an automobile accident. The 21-year-olds did almost everything together.

On Monday Cox agreed to a four-year contract worth $10.24 million. The 12th overall pick in the draft tried to put the life-changing events in perspective during a conference call.

"Dealing with the death in the family, it was a real bad time for me," said Cox, who stayed home in Yazoo City, Miss. to mourn for all but one day of the Eagles' minicamp.  "And I kind of felt it a little bit. But getting the contract signed, it's just a blessing how things work. I mean, Melvin is in a better place right now. And he'll be watching down on me as I play ... every day. Not just on Sundays or Monday nights but even in practices he'll be looking down on me. He wants nothing but the best for me. And that's all I want for him, nothing but the best."

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 Eagles first-round draft pick Fletcher

aximum of $10.241 million over four years, per the slotted system for signing draft pi

passing, like that of his cousin, Melvin Baker, 21, who died in a car wreck. Cox was excused from the first two days of what was, for everybody else, a mandatory minicamp.

Hopeful of deal in a few days.

With rookie first-round picks around him signing contracts, Eagles first-round pick Fletcher Cox is hopeful he will soon join them.

Cox hinted that his deal could happen before the team's three-day rookie camp ends Monday.

"We haven’t talked about it yet but I’m hoping here in a couple of days or whenever it happens," Cox said. "The time has to come. It’s got to be done."

The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has reduced the size of rookie contracts, and with it the threat of holdouts.

Several rookies have agreed to terms including four of the Eagles' nine draft picks, the group topped by second-round picks Mychal Kendricks and Vinny Curry.

For rookies like Cox, the limits on pay in the new CBA aren't much of an issue. Whatever he gets, it beats life as a collegiate football player.

"I don’t get caught up in that money stuff," Cox said. "I’m just going to be me. I love the game of football. And that’s what I’m going to do."

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