The Philadelphia Eagles locked up defensive tackle Fletcher Fox to a six-year contract on Monday, and it’s a sizable one. It’s not as big as the originally reported figures, but it’s still big money for the 2012 first round pick.
The deal was initially reported as $103 million, but we know that’s not really how the numbers work. He got $36.299 million fully guaranteed upon signing, and another $19 million will become fully guaranteed by March 2017. Pro Football Talk has the full breakdown. For comparison’s sake, 2011 first round pick Marcell Dareus got $42.9 million at signing, and another $13 million by the next March.
Where this gets interesting is Denver Broncos pass rusher Von Miller. These contracts are not apples-to-apples comparisons given the different positions, but they are intriguing. And Miller has to be loving it. There are reports that the Broncos and Miller had agreed on years (six) and total value ($114 million), but they were far apart on guaranteed money. Adam Schefter reported the Broncos were offering a shade under $40 million in fully guaranteed money. There are other reports that Miller wants closer to Ndamukong Suh’s $60 million in fully guaranteed money.
There have been rumblings Miller will consider sitting out the season if he doesn’t get the deal he wants. If he sits out, the Broncos could tag him again, but it could not be an exclusive tag. The non-exclusive tag requires a team give up a first and a third for Miller, while the exclusive requires two first round picks. That makes an outside deal easier. That being said, I don't think Miller ends up holding out into the season. I would not be surprised to see him skip most of training camp, but I do not expect him to skip Week 1.
The next question is if we see him on the Broncos next season, or if he plays out the season and ends up elsewhere. I imagine quite a few teams will be willing to get in the mix. The 49ers certainly do have plenty of cap space, but I'm guessing they would not give up the draft picks that might be necessary. And in the meantime, we can hope Eli Harold, Tank Carradine and others step up with Aaron Lynch. But it will all make for an interesting offseason of free agency next year.