Philadelphia Eagles who could be on the trade block post-Zach Ertz

Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox

All you have to do to quantify how disappointing Fletcher Cox‘s performance has been is to compare the salary to his production. In 2021, Fletcher Cox’s salary is $12,7 million. He’s signed through the end of 2022. He’ll make $26.5 million

Part of the problem, again, is those substitute teachers disguised as Eagles coaches. Following Philly’s loss to Kansas City, a game in which Fletcher Cox played 69 percent of the defensive snaps and failed to register a single defensive statistic, Jonathan Gannon was quoted as saying he “wasn’t worried” about Cox’s production and that it would come.

That production still isn’t coming.

Therein lies your problem. Some of Philly’s coaches and leadership structure are behaving like fans. That’s why old guys are getting contracts for what they’ve done as opposed to getting paid based on what they’re worth. In the case of guys like Jake Elliott and Brandon Brooks, those guys are either underperforming or getting hurt.

Just ask yourself a question. Let’s say it wasn’t Cox. Let’s say some other guy showed up in the number 91 jersey and was doing this. Would that be acceptable?

As was the case with Jason Peters, the Philadelphia Eagles are now afraid to hold Cox accountable. It appears that he’s on the downside of a Hall of Fame career, but here’s the thing. He’s also, potentially, Philly’s best trade collateral. Unfortunately, until the leadership structure gets over their desire to be right, this Eagles team will remain stuck in neutral.