One of the most dominant defensive linemen of the last decade is calling it a career as Philadelphia Eagles DT Fletcher Cox announced on X that he is retiring.
Earlier this offseason, during a Radio Row appearance on Cameron Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Cox was asked which current defensive linemen he would have liked to team up with in his career.
“You,” Cox said, answering Heyward’s question. “Just the respect that you got for the game. Respect that I have for the game. The way that you play the game, the way that I play the game, like definitely we could – that would’ve been nice. We could make some things happen.”
While this was just the pair talking about the what-ifs of playing on the same defensive line together, many took as that Cox having interest in joining the Steelers as he was set to become a free agent at the start of the new league year on Wednesday. And then there were outlets like Pro Football Focus placing him in Pittsburgh and calling it his best landing spot in free agency.
That wasn’t the first time he was linked to the Steelers, either. Back in 2021 CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported that the Steelers and Eagles were trying to work out a deal to ship him to Pittsburgh prior to the trade deadline.
Now, those hopes of him joining the Black and Gold can be put to rest as he calls it a career.
In 12 NFL seasons, all with the Eagles, he amassed 519 tackles, 88 tackles for loss, 70 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, and three defensive touchdowns. That was good enough to earn him three second-team All-Pro selections as well as a first-team All-Pro selection in 2018. He was also named to the Pro Bowl six straight years from 2015-2020.
According to Pro Football Reference’s Hall of Fame monitor score, Cox is right within range to eventually be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
