The Eagles have a lot of free agents and a lot of tough decisions to make in the next few weeks. Everyone knows that not every free agent will be back in 2023. It’s just not possible. One free agent the Eagles need to find a way to fit into their plans for this season, though, is franchise legend, Brandon Graham.
Howie Roseman made some mistakes hanging on to the core pieces from the last Super Bowl run when the Eagles needed to move on. The Alshon Jeffery extension, for instance, still makes no sense. But, Brandon Graham is different. He wasn’t just one of the core leaders of this past Super Bowl run, he’s a franchise icon. The Eagles need to find a way to make it work without hamstringing themselves down the road like they have hanging on to vets in the past.
There will be a market for Brandon Graham when the legal tampering – er, negotiating – period opens up in the middle of the month. There was already chatter on Friday that multiple teams have already made their interest in him known.
It’s wild that a market is already forming for the soon-to-be 35-year-old defensive end, you know since teams aren’t allowed to be in any communication with free agents yet. Still, pass rushers are always at a premium in the NFL, and Graham is coming off one of the best seasons of his career. He was the highest-rated defensive player for the Eagles, according to PFF, and registered a career-high 11.0 sacks. All on the heels of rupturing his Achilles in 2021 and missing the majority of the ’21 campaign.
Removing the 2021 season when Graham missed the majority, his snap count was the lowest it’s been since 2014 this past year. He logged just 524 snaps, but still set his career-high in sacks and graded out a ridiculous 89.8 on PFF. That was the 6th highest among all EDGE players in the NFL in 2022. For comparison’s sake, Hasaaon Reddick logged 926 snaps.
BG is still playing very good football so it shouldn’t be a surprise that teams are interested. He will, however, turn 35 years old before the start of the 2023 season, and it’s hard to imagine him having the same effectiveness next year if someone were to sign him for a larger role than the one he played this year. He can still be a very good rotational player but isn’t going to be someone who is logging a ton of snaps.
That also means that he probably isn’t likely to command top-dollar on the open market. Spotrac projects Graham’s market value to be $5.7m heading into free agency. Graham made around $13m in 2022 as part of a 3-year, $40M deal he signed with the Eagles in 2020. If Spotrac is in the right ballpark with Graham’s market value, that seems like something that Howie could make work.
Of all the players that could leave this year, Graham’s the one that it just feels unfathomable to see in another team’s jersey. We don’t have a Super Bowl if Graham doesn’t force that fumble of Tom Brady in Super Bowl 52.
Graham has become one of the greatest Eagles of all time after starting his career being labeled a bust. He started 13 games over his first five seasons as an Eagle. Fans, myself included, complained at the time that Graham wasn’t Earl Thomas – the safety everyone thought the Eagles traded up to take in the 2010 NFL Draft. Instead, the tweener they drafted from Michigan, a school that I have hated since my youth as a lifelong Notre Dame fan, couldn’t crack the starting lineup.
Since he became a starter in 2015, however, he’s become one of the faces of the franchise and one of the most beloved Eagles of all time. He’s officially reached a Brian Dawkins level of “I just can’t see this guy in another jersey. The Eagles stupidly let Dawnkins leave for Denver in 2008 when he was about the same age as Graham. They can’t make that mistake again.
Brandon Graham is a treasure who needs to end his career in Philly. Unless some other team throws a ton of money at him, Howie needs to make sure he ends his career in Philly.
