May 12, 2017
Earlier this week, there was a report that Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham intends on holding out from voluntary OTAs later this month, and potentially mandatory minicamp in June, with an eye on getting his contract renegotiated.
It should be noted that there were also conflicting reports about the Graham situation, causing some confusion. Ahead of the Eagles rookie minicamp on Friday, Doug Pederson was asked if he had an update on the Graham situation. The Eagles head coach said he “wasn’t worried” about Graham sitting out at the moment.
“As you guys know, this is a voluntary offseason program, so a lot of this is out of my hands,” Pederson said. “But he’s a guy [that is] valuable to the football team. Not worried about him at all.”
Pederson said that he had been in communication with Graham recently. And if you thought the story would end today, there’s at least a recognition from the Eagles that their top pass-rusher is skipping voluntary workouts.
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported that Graham is with his family in Detroit and “eager for the season to start.”
“Again, the expectation is ‘Would I like him here?’ Yeah, at voluntary,” Pederson said. “That’s the hardest part as a coach, when you’re working on that type of schedule. But at the same time, he’s a guy that [as a] veteran player, understands his role, understands his assignment and I expect big things from him this season.”
Pederson tried to downplay the situation, but he was also pretty vague (something he struggled with last season). With that in mind, we should probably stay tuned on whether or not Graham shows up at OTAs later this month.
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