The rumors are busy this time of year and the latest one is that the Buffalo Bills are among a number of teams interested in trading for Fletcher Cox
The defensive tackle should be a position of focus with three players at the position from last year set to be free agents. If the Bills lose Harrison Phillips, Vernon Butler, and Justin Zimmer this will be a concern for Buffalo with only Star Lotulelei and Ed Oliver the only players with extensive playing experience.
General manager Brandon Beane will certainly have a plan for the position and is probably exploring all options, which could include trading for a former All-Pro defensive tackle. According to Jordan Schultz, the Buffalo Bills are one of a number of teams calling the Philadelphia Eagles about trading for Fletcher Cox.
#Eagles receiving lots of interest for 6x Pro Bowl DT Fletcher Cox. League sources say #Bills, #Steelers and #Chargers all interested (#Cardinals aren’t due to lack of money).
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 12, 2022
Trading Cox would mean a $40M dead cap charge for Philly, so the return would have to be substantial.
The other teams that Schultz lists are the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers. He would later add a clarifying tweet that he believes the Steelers are a longshot.
Should the Buffalo Bills be interested in trading for Fletcher Cox?
While there is no question that Fletcher Cox is a good player and would certainly help this defense improve. He could step in as a starter alongside Ed Oliver and give Buffalo one of the top tandems at defensive tackle in the NFL.
The reason that this trade may not make sense is for two reasons and both are centered around the six-time Pro Bowler’s contract. Last offseason, the Eagles restructured the contract for Fletcher Cox that essentially only leaves one-year left with a cap hit of $14.9 million.
For the Buffalo Bills, who currently don’t have much cap space, this is a sizable cap hit that would require some work to fit it on the roster. This could mean either restructuring current deals or releasing players.
It doesn’t necessarily make sense to create future cap problems or create other holes on the roster for a player who is going to be 32 years old and towards the end of his career.
The other issue is that the Philadephia Eagles are expecting a significant return because it creates $40 million in dead cap. This is due to the voided years they added to the contract when they restructured last year.
While the Buffalo Bills would be better with Fletcher Cox in their defense, this is one trade that has seemingly too many hurdles for it to make sense for what they need.