Fletcher Cox Released Moments Before $18M Salary Became Guaranteed
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PHILADELPHIA – Just before Fletcher Cox was set to have his contract guaranteed for 2022, the Eagles released him. The move came Thursday afternoon, prior to 4 p.m.
Had he been on the roster on the third day of the league year, which is Friday, his contract would have been locked in.
The release will carry a post-June 1 designation.
To do so prior to June 1, would cost the Eagles $40 million in dead money and consume $25M of their salary cap. By waiting to until after June 1, the Eagles will eat $10M of dead money but save $16M under the salary cap.
First to report the news was NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo.
The Eagles, who announced the news two hours after it was reported nationally, are reportedly going to try to negotiate a new deal with their longtime defensive tackle and now have that additional $16M in cash with which to work.
In the meantime, Cox will be free to negotiate a new deal with any team he chooses, and it's questionable as to whether or not he will want to return.
It’s no secret that the Eagles tried to deal him at last year’s trade deadline.
It’s also no secret that Cox wasn’t happy playing in the new scheme employed by first-time defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, saying as much after a late-October loss in Las Vegas.
Right before the release was reported the Eagles introduced their new free-agent acquisition, Haason Reddick, to reporters inside the auditorium at NovaCare Complex.
Reddick was asked who had been in touch with him after the signing and he mentioned Jalen Hurts, Jordan Mailata, and Javon Hargrave and added that he talked to Jason Kelce inside the facility.
Reddick never mentioned Cox.
Cox said he had moved on after not being traded last year, saying that he was still an Eagle, but didn’t want to take many more questions about it, deferring all questions to his agent Todd France.
It is believed Cox had asked to be traded and France was given permission to talk with other teams about a deal.
Cox, 31, was a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2010s and is a four-time All-Pro selection.
He earned six Pro Bowl appearances, which are the most-ever for an Eagles defensive tackle, and his 58 sacks are the most by an Eagles defensive tackle and ranks fifth on the team’s career list behind Reggie White, Trent Cole, Clyde Simmons, and Brandon Graham.
Cox was one of the few remaining members of the Eagles' 2017 Super Bowl championship. Those who are still left are Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jake Elliott, Rick Lovato, Brandon Graham, and Isaac Seumalo.
If he doesn't return, the trickle-down will likely leave the Eagles looking for a defensive tackle early in the draft, perhaps even with one of their three first-round picks, where Georgia's Jordan Daivs and Connecticut's Travis Jones could become targets.
The defensive tackles who remain on the Eagles' roster that received the bulk of playing time along with Cox last season are Hargrave, who is in the final year of his contract, and Milton Williams, a member of the draft class of 2021.
Also in last year's draft class is Marlon Tuipulotu, though he played just five percent of the defensive snaps.
Hassan Ridgeway played 33 percent of the snaps, but he left for the San Franciso 49ers earlier in the week during free agency.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
