Chris Jones Tried to Lure Fletcher Cox to Chiefs in March
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Things could look a lot different right now.
Fletcher Cox could be the one sitting in the colors of the Kansas City Chiefs, getting ready to play his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, in Super Bowl LVII.
If only Chris Jones had his way.
“I wanted him to come to the Chiefs before he signed back with the Eagles,” said Jones, the superbly gifted defensive tackle for the Chiefs, during the team’s availability on Wednesday.
Jones and Cox both attended Mississippi State, though at different times.
Jones is 28 and a former second-round pick – 37 overall in 2016 – of Kansas City. Cox is 32 and a former first-round pick – 12 overall in 2012.
Cox was a free agent for a brief period when the Eagles and GM Howie Roseman cut him on March 17, just before his $18 million salary would have become fully guaranteed.
“I was at one of my happy places, so I didn’t let it get to me,” said Cox during the Eagles' availability the same day. “I was at the racetrack with my best buddies and obviously back and forth that day at my RV.
“I kind of knew what was going on. It was news to the world, but it wasn’t news to me. I knew that Howie and the whole organization handled it as professionally as they could, and I appreciated that.”
The happy place Cox is referring to was a drag racing event. Even though his car lost that day, he won when the Eagles brought him back 48 hours later on a one-year $14M deal.
It was an interesting situation, with negotiations that had begun even as the release was happening.
Cox knew the situation would resolve itself and he would be back. Still, there was that 48-hour window where he was free to negotiate with any other team he wanted.
It never made it to that point.
“Chris texted me and obviously we have an old coach there (in former Eagles and current Chiefs Andy Reid) and that was something to think about, but at the end of the day I bleed green," he said.
Cox didn’t want to look beyond Sunday's Super Bowl and his pending free-agent status.
Jones, though, did.
“We’re going to bring it around again,” he said. “I’ll start (recruiting him) again.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
