Eagles Take Big Step Toward Brandon Graham’s Return to the Field
Brandon Graham was removed from the exempt list Monday, marking another significant step in the star pass rusher’s return to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Graham, the longest-tenured player in Eagles history, opted to come out of retirement to sign a one-year contract with the team on Oct. 23. With the Eagles coming out of the Week 9 bye, Graham, 37, is likely to make his season debut Monday against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Graham Now Counts Against 53-Man Roster
Graham’s two-game roster exemption ended on Monday, and he now counts against the 53-man roster. This will be his 16th season with Philadelphia.
Graham has not played since Super Bowl LIX. He initially retired in March, but with a lack of pass rush and the subsequent retirement of veteran defensive end Za’Darius Smith, the Eagles convinced him to return in hopes of chasing another Super Bowl.
The Eagles own the NFC East’s best record at 6-2 but rank 23rd in total defense (336.3 yards allowed per game) and have the fifth-fewest sacks in the NFL (16).
Graham is Near Top of Eagles’ Record Books
Graham is one of the most accomplished players in Eagles history. The 13th overall pick of the 2010 draft holds the franchise record for most regular-season games played (206) and is third in team history with 76.5 sacks. He was second-team All-Pro in 2016 and made his lone Pro Bowl appearance in 2020.
His strip sack of Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII helped the Eagles outlast the New England Patriots 41-33 for their first Super Bowl victory.
As the Eagles beef up their defense for the season’s second half, Graham will slide in alongside newly acquired outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who has three sacks this season and 26 over his five-year career.
Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo leads the Eagles with four sacks while Jordan Davis and Zack Baum each have three.
Why Russell Wilson is still Giants starting QB over Jaxson Dart
The New York Giants could've pivoted already.
Russell Wilson was horrible in Week 1 against the Washington Commanders. First-round pick Jaxson Dart is waiting in the wings after an impressive preseason. A QB change does feel like it's coming.
But not yet. The Giants decided to stick with Russ for this week, at least, against the Dallas Cowboys.
A couple of ESPN insiders, Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, wrote a new article Wednesday that helped explain why.
Why is Russell Wilson still starting over Jaxson Dart?
The word that Fowler uses is that this is the "sensible" choice.
"Despite Wilson's struggles, money usually talks in these situations, and to bench Wilson after Week 1 means the Giants would have paid him more than $10 million for one game," Fowler writes. "Sensible teams don't typically do such things. And I believe the Giants are trying to be sensible here. This is a team that needs to stick to a plan, and having Dart sit and learn -- at least in the short term -- can help him."
The Giants also want to stick to a plan with Dart that they feel gives him the best chance to succeed.
"I do know that Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have a very specific strategy for Jaxson Dart's development that includes specific benchmarks he must hit before they're convinced he's ready," Graziano writes. "They've crafted this plan based on previous experiences breaking in young quarterbacks, which include prominent success stories such as Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes."
It's hard to believe Wilson will start the entire season unless the Giants go on an unexpected hot streak.
But it's also fair that Russ is the Week 2 starter. Moving on after one game wouldn't have made a ton of sense, as these explanations spell out.
