The Philadelphia Eagles paid Fletcher Cox big money but when you look at his production, he’s well worth it. 

The Philadelphia Eagles signed defensive end Fletcher Cox to six year, $103 million dollar extension. $63 million of it is guaranteed. It is the largest deal for a non quarterback in NFL history. Cox is the latest defensive lineman to get paid in what has been a big off-season for defenders in the trenches.

Fletcher is one of the five best defensive lineman in the league. He’s versatile in that he can line up anywhere along the defensive line based on down and distance. Fletcher dominates blockers one on one and is an explosive pass rusher for his size. You can see why the Eagles overpaid him.

Teams are willing to pay quality defensive lineman. Just look at the money Malik Jackson and Olivier Vernon got earlier this off-season from the Jaguars and Giants respectively. Defensive ends who can play all three downs and impact the game are being paid big bucks nowadays. It’s not just the pass rushers who are getting paid.

The Eagles did overpay for Cox but it’s the price of doing business at his position. You pay for the production and when a player produces like Cox, it gets expensive for the team.

Cox is the latest defensive lineman to get paid but there will be more big bucks thrown around to defensive lineman next off-season. Muhammad Wilkerson, Calais Campbell, Dontari Poe and Michael Brockers are all unrestricted free agents. If you consider Von Miller and Chandler Jones defensive ends, they are also unrestricted free agents in 2017. If you think Cox signed a monster deal, you haven’t seen anything yet.