Eagles express 'serious interest' in 49ers RB Frank Gore, per report

The Philadelphia Eagles have expressed "serious interest" in San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com. Citing an anonymous source, Shorr-Parks says that there is mutual interest, and that's significant enough that "it is possible a deal could get done as early as Tuesday," which is the start of the new league year.

This isn't terribly unexpected given the recent trade by the Eagles, which sent veteran LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for Kiko Alonso. If Philadelphia felt that McCoy was due to regression or they didn't like his cap hit given his massive amount of touches last season, moving on and signing a guy like Gore, who is perfectly capable of being the starter for most teams for one season is a no-brainer.

Getting Alonso in that deal is also a no-brainer.

Of course, this news is a big deal for 49ers fans, though it's not necessarily surprising that Gore could find another team. Jed York (despite the fact that he's claimed Trent Baalke is in charge of things) recently said that the 49ers should be able to get something done for Gore, but given the changing of the guard with Carlos Hyde and San Francisco's reported interest in C.J. Spiller, this was always likely.

That said, I didn't quite expect there to be enough mutual interest to suggest a deal could come rapid-fire on Tuesday, given Gore's desire to retire with the 49ers. If these sources are accurate and Gore does have that level of mutual interest in the Eagles, then he has to be fairly prepared for the eventuality that he doesn't play for the 49ers in 2015-16.

Gore has been with the 49ers since the team drafted him in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He's put up eight seasons of 1,000-plus yards and has 11,073 yards and 64 touchdowns in his career.