Eagles Veteran Expected To Announce Decision On Future

The end appears to have arrived for Brandon Graham. The Eagles defensive end is holding a press conference at noon on Tuesday to announce his future. It is rare when a player holds a press conference to announce he is returning, so the expectation is that Graham will retire.

Many questioned whether he was the right pick in 2010, when the Eagles gave up a lot to get him. They owned the 24th pick that year but sent it to the Denver Broncos along with two third-rounders (No. 70 and 87 overall) to move up to No. 13 overall.

Graham played 13 games as a rookie, making three sacks with eight QB hits. His season was cut short when he suffered a torn ACL on Dec. 12 in a 30-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.

Two days later, he was placed on injured reserve, and nine days after suffering the injury underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee.

It was the kind of surgery that, back then, had been career-ending for some players.

Graham came back, but not for quite some time. He returned in Week 9 of the following season but appeared in just three games.

Finally healthy in 2012, Graham began to take flight. He was consistent enough to pressure and collect sacks, but it wasn’t until 2022 when he put together his first and only double-digit sack season with 11.

People stopped questioning if he was a bust years ago, as his career blossomed.

The defensive lineman finished with 76.5 career sacks, which landed him third on the Eagles’ all-time sack list behind Reggie White (124) and Trent Cole (88.5).

He won two Super Bowl championships and made one of the more memorable plays in franchise history when he strip-sacked the GOAT, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in Super Bowl LII in the final 90 seconds to help the Eagles hold off the New England dynasty, 41-33.

It was the first Lombardi Trophy the Eagles won.

He announced at the end of the 2023 season that 2024 would be his final year. That he would be on a “farewell tour.”

Things were going well, so well that Graham was asked if he could change his mind and possibly return for Year 16. He joked, “I’m not gonna leave any money on the table.”

On Nov. 24 his farewell tour was interrupted. He tore his triceps and announced his season was over. Then the Eagles went on a playoff run as the No. 2 seed and landed in Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Graham returned, even though the timetable for a return from such an injury was about six months short of a typical timeline to return normally is. So, he played in the Super Bowl, logging 13 snaps with one tackle. The numbers don’t matter. What mattered was that he played. And went out a winner.