December 15, 2015
Michael Perez/AP
Fletcher Cox has to be happy with his spot in the first edition of #PhillyRank.
Over the last two weeks, Fletcher Cox destroyed the Patriots' offensive line, and then followed that up with another dominant performance against the Bills. Cox is playing at an extraordinarily high level, and he is finally beginning to get his due.
Speaking to reporters today, Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis was asked how Cox compared to Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh.
“Right now, we compare our guys by trying to say, ‘Who has the most contacts to the ball?’ So for defensive linemen, how many snaps did you have and what percentage of snaps did you have contact, meaning did you have an assist or a tackle," Davis explained. "And I think Fletch is way up there. He’s way above Suh in those areas. So I think Fletch is — they’re different players, they’re different sizes. But I’m sure glad we have Fletch. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”
Cox has yet to make a Pro Bowl in his career, which is a joke. Davis lobbied for the fans to start punching ballots.
“He’s not overlooked by his peers," said Davis. "The players will vote him in; the coaches will vote him in. For anyone that’s put the tape on or has gone against him, that’s a no-brainer. They will vote him in. The problem lies with the fan vote. And that’s what we have to help Fletch with, getting that fan vote up. Because that’s where people look at stats and say, ‘Hey, well let me vote for the guy with the stats.’ Well, if you played against him, you’re going to vote for him. If you coached against him, you’re going to vote for him. Now we just got to get some fans out there to vote for him.”
The Eagles should be careful about comparing Suh with Cox. Suh just signed an absurd contract worth over $114 million last March. The Eagles control Cox's rights through the 2016 season because they exercised his fifth year option, which will pay Cox a bargain rate of $7,799,000 in 2016. He'll be an unrestricted free agent thereafter.
Here are some comparable interior defensive linemen contracts that were signed recently, with contract details coming from overthecap.com. The ages of each player noted below are when they signed their deals:
Watt signed a six year, $100 million contract extension with the Houston Texans on September 2, 2014. Watt had two years remaining on his contract, meaning the new deal will run through the 2021 season. Details of the contract are currently based on a report by John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Upon signing the contract Watt received a $10 million signing bonus and guaranteed salaries in 2014 and 2015 to bring his total of fully guaranteed salary to $20.876 million.
McCoy signed a 7 year, $95.2 million contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 25, 2014. All contract details come from Joel Corry of the National Football Post. McCoy will receive $14,757,308 in full guarantees which will be paid out in 2014 as base salary and a $2.5 million roster bonus.
Suh signed a 6 year, $114.375 million contract with the Dolphins on March 11, 2015. Suh received $59.995 million fully guaranteed upon signing.
Dareus signed a 6 year, $95.1 million contract with the Buffalo Bills on September 10, 2015 that includes $60 million in total guarantees and $42.9 million guaranteed at signing.
Cox just turned 25 on Sunday, and he's already among the best defenders in the NFL. He's going to get paid.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
Add some PhillyVoice RSS feeds.
