Philadelphia Eagles defensive endย Fletcher Cox has one year remaining on his contract, but conflicting reports have emerged regarding a new deal he's been offered.ย
Continue for updates.ย
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Pederson Comments on Cox Negotiations
Tuesday, May 17
Head coach Doug Pederson said he has not spoken with Cox despite trying to contact him multiple times, calling it "part of the business," per Matt Lombardo of NJ.com.
Cox Closing In on New Deal with Eagles
Tuesday, April 19
Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported that Cox and the Eagles are close to agreeing to a new contract expected to include $52 million guaranteed.
Cox's Agent Denies Turning Down $60 Million Guaranteed
Tuesday, April 12
In an appearance on 94WIP Philadelphia on Tuesday (via CBS Philadelphia's Andrew Porter), Fox 29's Howard Eskin said Cox turned down a lucrative offer because his agent, Todd France, is calling the shots: ย ย
"Heโs been offered over $60 million guaranteed. Itโs mind-boggling. His agent is a guy by the named of Todd France who is really, really โ Iโve been told that people think heโs brutal and heโs a tough guy. But hereโs the other things that Iโve heard from around the NFL, he represents other players that play the position on the defensive line. And in this case, thereโs a belief out there that he is trying to get more money for Fletcher Cox just so that increases the value of the other defensive lineman out there that he represents.
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However, France denied those claims in an appearance on 94WIP'sย Mike and Ike Showย later in the day (viaย Porter):ย
"Whatโs amazing to me, is that todayโs day and age you can report something and absolutely make no attempt to contact the other party โ perhaps in this case maybe the agent โ and ask him, โHey this is the information Iโm getting. Is this true, is this not true?โ If I choose not to comment or donโt respond, thenย thatโs on me. But to me, itโs careless reporting when you donโt even attempt to check your facts that are quote-unquote โ that are facts โ I should put those in quotes.
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More importantly, France confirmed Cox has a strong desire to ink an extension with the Eagles.ย
"One hundred percent of course he does," France said, per Porter. "Itโs the team that drafted him, itโs the team that believed in him coming out of college. Heโs grown there."
The Eagles have publicly reciprocated that opinion since March, when Howie Roseman, the Eagles' executive vice president of football operations,ย reiterated the team had to keep cap space clear during free agency since keeping Cox in the fold is a priority.ย
"We have to make sure that weโre always in a place where we have to get Fletcher done," Roseman said, according to PhillyVoice'sย Jimmy Kempski. "Anything that we do is in our mind, in the back of our mind, that we want to get Fletcher done, whether thatโs today, tomorrow, whatever point in time. We want Fletcher to be here."
| 2012 | 15 | 5.5 | 1 | 39 |
| 2013 | 16 | 3.0 | 0 | 44 |
| 2014 | 16 | 4.0 | 1 | 61 |
| 2015 | 16 | 9.5 | 3 | 71 |
NJ Advance Media'sย Eliot Shorr-Parksย previously cited two people "familiar with the negotiations" who said Cox's deal would wind up paying out more than $50 million guaranteed.ย
Should Cox accept an offer that large, he would immediately become one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL.
According toย Spotrac, the only defensive players with guarantees in excess of $50 million are Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, Miami Dolphins defensive tackleย Ndamukong Suh, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, New York Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.ย
And after notching career highs in total tackles (71) and sacks (9.5), Cox could be in line for a production bump under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.ย
"With the scheme that is coming, itโs like literally a scheme made for Fletcher," France added, per Porter. "So I think itโs gonna be scary in terms of what his trajectory is going to be, in terms of what he is going to be on the field."
