Eagles lock up DE Cole with five-year extension

PHILADELPHIA -- Defensive end Trent Cole signed a five-year contract extension on Monday that could keep him with the Philadelphia Eagles through 2013.

Cole is the second player drafted by the Eagles last year to receive a multiyear deal in the past week. Defensive tackle Mike Patterson got a seven-year extension worth $32 million last Thursday.

Terms of Cole's contract weren't immediately known.

"It's security," Cole said. "Anything can happen in this game. We can get hurt and not be able to make the money that we can."

A fifth-round pick from Cincinnati, Cole leads the Eagles with 6 1/2 sacks in eight games. He moved into the starting lineup when Jevon Kearse went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 2. Cole had five sacks as a rookie.

Cole's signing continues a trend for the Eagles. Earlier this year, guard Shawn Andrews signed a contract extension through 2015. In July, center Jamaal Jackson signed an extension through 2013. Free safety Brian Dawkins and punter Dirk Johnson also signed extensions this year. The deadline for allotting signing bonuses to this year's salary cap is Tuesday.

"I like this organization. It was kind of hard to determine what I wanted to do," Cole said. "I can go on to bigger and better things in the next two seasons, but a lot can happen. There are other variables. There's the possibility of getting hurt, the possibility of having bad seasons and things not working out."

Since joining the Eagles, Cole leads the team with 11 1/2 sacks and he is second in hurries with 19. He has 99 tackles, including seven stops for a loss.