The Titans on Saturday bolstered their secondary by agreeing to terms with cornerback Perrish Cox, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers. It was reportedly a three-year deal totaling $15 million.
Cox, who turned 28 in January, saw the most extensive action of his NFL career in 2014. He started 14 games and played 940 defensive snaps, 89.8% of the time, despite sitting out Week 17 with a shoulder injury. His only previous season seeing extensive action was 2010 as a rookie with the Denver Broncos, when he started nine games. The Broncos cut him that training camp, and he spent 2011 out of the NFL before landing in San Francisco, starting 2013 in Seattle, then bouncing back to San Francisco. He was primarily a dime defensive back with the 49ers in 2013, but their free agency losses at cornerback gave him an opportunity to win the starting job. He had 53 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 17 passes defensed.
Our charting at Football Outsiders and Pro Football Focus’ numbers agree 2014 was a tale of two half-seasons for Cox. He played pretty well the first half of the season, while the second half of the season was dismal. For a player with Cox’s career trajectory and lack of experience, that screams to me the first half of the season was a small sample size fluke, and the second half was entirely consistent with a player who seemed to be considered a deep sub package player only. As with the other Titans’ free agents, though, I’ll be watching Cox in much more detail than I have to get a better, more in-depth impression of his game. One thing he does bring that the Titans needed is some ability in the slot; he spent a lot of time there for San Francisco last year. I’ve never tried to hide my belief that Coty Sensabaugh is better off on the outside and the Titans needed a better slot option. Cox should at least give them that.
In past years, I would have been very surprised to see the Titans bring in Cox. I mentioned he was released by the Broncos after his rookie season. The Broncos claimed the release was for on-field reasons, but it came after a sexual assault arrest. He was acquitted of those charges in 2012, but that was not Cox’s first issue with authority. A very talented cover corner at Oklahoma State, he fell to the fifth round after several off-the-field issues in Stillwater, including a bowl game suspension and not being permitted to work out at the Cowboys’ pro day. The sexual assault arrest made Cox apparently too much for the Broncos. Not until he was acquitted in March 2012 would he sign with another NFL team. I’m not aware of any legal incidents for Cox since then.
One of the keys for whether this will be a successful signing for the Titans is whether and just how much Cox has improved his character, both on and off the field. San Francisco’s then-defensive coordinator Vic Fangio mentioned in November Cox had treated the 2014 season with a laser focus, going from not a lock to make the team to a starter, and that was a change from his history of slacking off. Other players, with Nate Washington being perhaps the most recent notable Tennessee example, have made similar changes at similar ages, but that just goes to emphasize the risky nature of this signing. The Titans needed a cornerback, preferably one who could play in the slot, in the worst way, and if that means paying a player with multiple flags a reported $5 million a year, well, that’s Ruston Webster’s decision. It could work out.
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