The mainstay is still there, same as always, same team and same place, in the front and in the middle of the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. For 187 games and 181 starts at defensive tackle (with a cameo, for three seasons, at defensive end), Fletcher Cox has added consistency to a franchise with no shortage of turnover. As a member of multiple outfits’ All-Decade teams for the 2010s, he helped make Philadelphia’s defense fierce. He won a Super Bowl (LII) and reached another (LVII) and still came back, each and every season, including for this one, his 12th.
Rare is the D-tackle who plays this many seasons, grinding through roster churns and rebuilding years and punishment baked into the job description, great force pointed his way on every snap. Rarer still is the defensive tackle who does all that in the same place. But even after season No. 11, Cox wanted more—more snaps, more impact and, of course, at least one more Lombardi Trophy to hoist over his head.
Cox wasn’t the reason Philly lost last season’s Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs. His seven sacks, 14 quarterback hits and seven tackles for a loss ensured the Eagles’ return to the grandest stage in sports. He hardly flirted with retiring, signing a one-year deal this past spring.
