To achieve one’s dreams, a number of things have to fall into place in a perfect order.
It takes hard work, dedication and a little luck along the way.
For Yazoo City’s own Fletcher Cox, all of the years of work finally paid off in a big way.
On Monday night, Cox signed a six-year contract extension for up to $103 million with $63 million guaranteed, which would give him the highest guaranteed total for any non-quarterback in NFL history.
Heading into his fifth year, Cox has accumulated 212 tackles, 22 sacks, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and seven passes defended over the course of his career.
Despite being highly ranked out of high school, Cox was an undersized defensive end, but he quickly ballooned and grew into a dominant All-American defensive tackle at Mississippi State University.
His performance at the collegiate level caught the eye of the Philadelphia Eagles, who drafted him in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Year after year Cox has improved, culminating in his 2015 Pro Bowl selection and historic contract extension.
While he had always been a salty run defender, Cox took a big step forward as a pass-rusher last season, which could be seen by his 9.5 sacks, whick helped him cement his status as one of the league’s top defensive linemen.
On a grading standpoint, Cox graded out at a 90.3 overall last year, giving him the highest score on the Eagles’ team.
The only 3-4 defensive end that graded out higher than Cox was J.J. Watt, putting Cox in the highest of categories for his position.
As the Eagles shift to a 4-3 under new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Cox will be moving back to defensive tackle, giving the Eagles one of the elite pass-rushing tackles in the league.
At the age of 25, Cox is just now beginning to enter his prime years, and the Eagles have him locked up for a number of those years.
