In terms of guaranteed money, Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox just became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.
On the surface, when you consider that Cox has been to just one Pro Bowl in four NFL seasons, that sounds ridiculous. Those who dig even a little deeper might defend the new six-year, $102.6 million deal (with $63.3 million guaranteed) by arguing that…
1. Cox is a versatile pass-rusher in an era in which pass-rushers are paid massive premiums.
2. With revenues soaring and the salary cap rising by about $10 million a year, it only makes sense that we’re continuing to see players sign record-breaking mega-deals every offseason.
3. Cox is only 25 and is coming off by far the best season of his career, and he has shown clear signs of big progress in all four of his pro seasons.
I get it, I get it all. It’s why for similar reasons I wasn’t surprised to see good-but-not-great rusher Olivier Vernon get a J.J. Watt-like contract earlier this offseason. We know that, in relative terms, Vernon is being overpaid, as are other 2016 free-agent jackpot winners like Malik Jackson and Janoris Jenkins. But those guys were unrestricted free agents, whereas Cox still had a year remaining on his rookie deal.
The franchise tag isn’t going anywhere either, which is why I can’t understand how this makes good business sense for the Eagles. Pro Football Talk reports that Cox will get more than $55 million in the next nine months. The Eagles could have kept the pressure on the interior rusher by instead forcing him to play out his contract year and then possibly using the franchise tag at a total two-year cost of about $25 million.
Yes, if Cox keeps improving and turns into an even bigger star, he’d cost a lot more in two years’ time. And with the franchise tag off the table soon after that, the Eagles would risk losing him. But that’s three or four years down the road. He could be seven or eight seasons into his career before you’d have to give him a mega-deal.
So why do it now?
