The Eagles are releasing Fletcher Cox just before he was to be guaranteed $18 million, a league source confirmed on Thursday.
The NFL Network was first to report the news.
The report also said that Cox and the Eagles are working towards a new contract, presumably at a much lower salary cap hit. Cox, of course, is also free to sign with another team.
Still, it’s a surprising move considering that Cox is one of the greatest defensive tackles in Eagles history. Cox ranks fifth in team history with 58 sacks. He was drafted by the Eagles in the first round in 2012 out of Mississippi State, and he was named to six straight Pro Bowls from 2015-20.
During that time, Cox was considered among the NFL’s best defensive tackles, right up there with the Rams’ Aaron Donald.
But Cox was also getting expensive. In the spring of 2016, he signed a six-year contract worth $102 million. The Eagles restructured the contract a few times as the years went on to convert his guarantee into a bonus and thus save money on the salary cap.
That, however, pushed guaranteed money into future seasons. Cox’s salary cap hit for 2022 was slated to be $15 million, according to overthecap.com, then dropping to $13 million in 2023 and back up to $17 million in 2024.
Cox is also 31 years old, and his play has been declining over the past few seasons. Cox, who had a career-high 10.5 sacks in 2018, had 3.5 in two of the last three seasons.
That included this past season, when Cox got off to a slow start, then bristled at the defensive schemes of new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Cox sounded off after the Eagles’ 33-22 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 24.
The Eagles tried trading Cox at the deadline last fall, and apparently tried again during this offseason. But with his guaranteed money looming, the Eagles decided to release him.
They are releasing Cox with a post-June 1 designation, meaning they will save about $16 million on the salary cap this year.
Even without Cox, the Eagles have a strong defensive line. Fellow defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is coming off a Pro Bowl season with a career-high 7.5 sacks, and the Eagles drafted Milton Williams in the third round last spring.
In addition, they signed Haason Reddick as a pass rusher on the outside to go along with Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
