Thomas
The Philadelphia Eagles neared their second key re-signing in three days by reaching a five-year, $12.5 million deal with defensive lineman Juqua Thomas that could be worth up to $1 million more per year with incentives.
Thomas, 26, was considered one of two top re-signings this week for the Eagles. They reached a deal earlier this week with safety Quintin Mikell but their attention had been on Thomas for the past two weeks. The hold-up was a technicality in last year's contract: Because Thomas made the NFL minimum exception that saved the Eagles cap dollars, he wasn't allowed to do a new deal until free agency started.
In the early hours of the process, Thomas reached a deal that will give him $4.2 million in signing bonus money.
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive end played four seasons in Tennessee before joining the Eagles in 2005. During those two seasons in Philadelphia, Thomas continued to show more and more value to a point the Eagles wanted to lock him up with a long-term deal.
His agent, Kennard McGuire, was unavailable for comment.
John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.