The Eagles agreed to terms with a six-time Pro Bowl free agent on Saturday morning.
His name might ring a bell.
Yes, just a couple days after they released Fletcher Cox to avoid paying him the $18 million that would have been guaranteed on his previous contract, the Eagles have agreed to a new contract that brings the 31-year-old back for the 2022 season.
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His new one-year deal is worth $14 million, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The Let’s Go to the Phones podcast first broke the news of Cox’s release on Thursday and his impeding deal to return.
Even as the Eagles released Cox on Thursday, they were working toward a resolution to bring one of their longest-tenured players back for this upcoming season. It eventually got done.
Before releasing Cox on Thursday, the Eagles had been listening to trade offers, just as they did before the trade deadline in the 2021 season. They never received an offer they deemed worthy.
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The Eagles released Cox on Thursday afternoon from his last contract with a post-June 1 designation for cap purposes. It will eventually leave around $12 million in dead money in 2022 and around $15 million in dead money in 2023, according to OverTheCap.
With Cox back, he and Javon Hargrave will be back together for a third season as the starting defensive tackles in a defensive line that also includes Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and newcomer Haason Reddick, who is listed as a linebacker but is really an edge player.
The Eagles drafted Cox in the first round back in 2012 and he has become one of their all-time great players, making six Pro Bowls in a row before missing the cut last year. There’s no question that 2021 was a down year for Cox, but he did play better down the stretch in Jonathan Gannon’s defense after the two came to an understanding.