After a day of speculation, Brandon Graham is indeed returning to Philly. The veteran defensive end can be re-signing with the Eagles, reports Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter has confirmed the news. CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr reported earlier this evening that Graham was expected to make his announcement tomorrow morning. Graham has since hinted at the approaching transaction via X.
A possible Eagles reunion has seemingly been within the cards because the defender announced his retirement this past offseason. After Graham left the door open to a possible return, there gave the impression to be growing momentum towards a move yesterday, after we learned that the player had discussed a possible cope with the organization. As Florio notes, the predominant hurdle to beat was “a suitable contract,” which the 2 sides apparently found out briefly order.
While the 2025 campaign will represent Graham’s age-37 season, this reunion is greater than needed for the Eagles. The team has only generated 11 sacks this season, and the recent retirement of Za’Darius Smith has only further depleted their pass-rush corps. Besides filling within the leadership gap that Smith left behind, Graham must also help pick up among the production. James Palmer of The Athletic passes along that the Eagles imagine the veteran was the perfect pass rusher on their squad in 2024.
After all, expectations must be somewhat tempered following a 2024 campaign when Graham was stepping into lower than half of his team’s defensive snaps before he suffered a season-ending triceps injury (he returned in time for the Super Bowl, when he re-tore his triceps). Graham returned for the Super Bowl after a nonsurgical rehab route; as retirement commenced, he underwent surgery following the second tear. Considering that injury and his lack of a training camp/preseason, it seems unlikely that Graham will have the opportunity to contribute immediately.
Nonetheless, when Graham is able to play, the Eagles will certainly be plenty reliant on the familiar face. Graham will re-join an EDGE group that consists of Josh Uche, Jalyx Hunt, and (eventually) Nolan Smith, who’s currently on IR while coping with a triceps injury. Besides losing Smith to retirement, the Eagles also lost Ogbo Okoronkwo to a season-ending triceps injury. While that grouping ought to be enough to get by, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes the Eagles aren’t done adding to the position as they appear to make one other run to a Super Bowl.
Graham hasn’t been a full-time player because the 2020 season, although that didn’t stop him from compiling 11 sacks in the course of the 2022 campaign. He collected a combined 6.5 sacks between 2023 and 2024, and he appeared in pair of playoff games during that very same span. Set to play in his sixteenth NFL season, Graham — already the longest-tenured player in Eagles history, with this in-season signing set to widen the gap between the favored edge rusher and the sphere in franchise annals — will now have a possibility so as to add to his franchise records (including games player and TFLs).