August 20, 2018
The Philadelphia Eagles announced that they have activated Brandon Graham off the PUP (physically unable to perform) list Monday morning. Graham had surgery to repair an ankle injury suffered late in the Eagles' 2017 regular season against the Oakland Raiders.
While it was expected that Graham would be ready for Week 1 of the 2018 regular season, Eagles fans can now breathe a sigh of relief that he is ready to go, with plenty of time to get his body "into football shape."
Looking solely at sack totals, Graham's production won't exactly wow anybody. He had a personal best 9.5 sacks in 2017 and has just 38.5 for his career. However, any close observer of the team can clearly see that Graham consistently creates pressure in the passing game and is one of the best run defenders in the NFL. He is easily the Eagles' best edge defender, and among the top 10, league-wide. He helped lead the Eagles' No. 1 ranked run defense in 2017, and oh, by the way, he also made perhaps the biggest play in Eagles history in the Super Bowl.
Graham is entering the final year of his contract, and his long-term standing with the team has been watched closely all offseason. Graham is now 30 years old, but his snap count total over the course of his career is relatively low when compared with other 30-year old regular starters at his position.
Now that Graham is healthy again and practicing with the team, that would logically be one obstacle out of the way for a long-term deal. It will be interesting to see if Graham and the Eagles can get something worked out over the next two or so weeks before the start of the season.
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