Fletcher Cox has been a Pro Bowler, he’s been an All-Pro, he’s won a Super Bowl and he’s signed a $100 million contract.
The Eagles’ defensive tackle has received a lot of accolades during his eight-year NFL career, but the latest might be the most impressive.
Earlier this offseason, Cox was one of four Eagles named to the NFL’s all-decade teams for the 2010s.
It means a lot, man. I don’t think they just throw players up there. To me it means a lot. I sure can appreciate that. Gotta thank the coaching staff, my teammates and everybody who helped me get to this point to be able to be on there. It’s such an honor. And I’m truly blessed to be on there.
I got the sense that this truly is an honor that means a lot to Cox, and it should. For a lot of his career he’s been overlooked by many and overshadowed by other great interior defensive linemen.
Cox was one of four defensive tackles to make the all-decade team, along with Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Sun and Geno Atkins.
While Donald has arguably been the best defensive player in the league for the last six years, Cox has the chance, with a few more dominant seasons, to become the second-best player at his position of his era and make a real run at the Hall of Fame.
NFL
Take a look at Cox’s career accomplishments so far:
• Member of the all-decade team for the 2010s
• Five-time Pro Bowler (2015-19), third-longest streak in Eagles history
• First-team All-Pro in 2018, second-team All-Pro in 2014, 2015, 2017
• Super Bowl LII champion
• NFC Defensive Player of the Month (September 2016)
• Two-time NFC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 11, 2015, Dec. 30, 2018)
• Signed a six-year, $102 million contract extension in 2016
• 48 sacks, 121 QB hits, 62 TFLs, 11 FFs, 11 FRs, 2 TD
Cox is 29 and won’t turn 30 until December, so there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to play a dominant brand of football for at least the next few years.
Last year, my colleague Reuben Frank looked at Cox’s Hall of Fame candidacy. If Cox ends up being a Pro Bowler for two more seasons, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be, that would give him seven in his career. Roob dug out this pretty incredible stat: Of the 15 defensive tackles in NFL history who have been seven-time Pro Bowlers, 13 of the 14 eligible are in the Hall of Fame.
Cox is putting together a serious case to be enshrined in Canton and being a member of the all-decade team will only help his case.
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