Fletcher Cox Wants To 'Finish Career' In Philly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Fletcher Cox denied his agent or anyone else have been in talks with the Eagles about a contract extension, despite reports to the contrary, with the possibility of playing out the last year of his current contract -- worth eight million dollars.
But the Pro Bowl defensive lineman said he is willing to play any defense the new Eagles coach may bring, whether it's a 3-4 or 4-3 alignment.
"I'm pretty sure I want to be here and I want to finish my career here and I'm excited about that," Cox said. "We as players and professional athletes are, we'll wait to see who comes in (as the new coach) and what happens. Mr. (Jeff) Lurie and everyone else will do a great job and bring a new coach in. I think all we can do is wait to see what happens. I think the fun part about (a new coach and change) is that I played in both (a 3-4 and 4-3 defensive scheme). I feel like I'll be effective in both defenses. I have no preference. I just like to go out and have fun.
"We had fun the whole year. We didn't get the wins and put the wins in the column. I think this was a real big year for me individually. But I can't get comfortable. I have to keep up the edge on what got me here now. You have to look at the things that you could have improved. I think my biggest thing was I could have had way more sacks than I had. I didn't finish a bunch of plays. I beat myself up about it. I have to work on finishing plays that I didn't finish."
Whether that's going to alongside Cedric Thornton is another question. The defensive lineman's contract is up.
"I love being around Ced (Thornton)," Cox said. "We've been in this thing together. We learned a lot together. My first year here was his second year here."
Cox said he would miss Thornton if he doesn't return. In the meantime, Cox said he'll keep an eye on who the Eagles hire as the new coach.
"Whatever happens with (my contract) happens, wouldn't you be excited to make eight-million," Cox said. "I'm looking forward to the Pro Bowl. I'm looking forward to meeting the top dogs in the league and I'm excited to be around those guys. I want to see if I can look at it a different way and see how they approach it as to how I can approach it. I absolutely feel I belong (in the group of elite players)."
Cox said he wasn't pleased with Chip Kelly being fired. He expressed how bad he felt "for anyone losing a job" and that he learned a lot in Kelly's three years with the Eagles.
"I have a lot of respect for Coach Kelly," Cox said. "The more challenging thing is I've been playing in (defensive coordinator) Coach (Billy) Davis' system the last three years, and with a new coach coming in, I'm going to have to learn a whole new scheme and whole new playbook. It might be the same type of stuff, but a whole different type of terminology. That's the most challenging part of it."
