Birds get DE Brandon Graham back just in time
20 August 2018 Eagles News
Good news for Birds fans as one of the biggest heroes from the Eagles Superbowl win is back. The Eagles announced on Monday that DE Brandon Graham has been activated from the PUP list.
All offseason, Graham has been recovering from ankle surgery. The high ankle injury happened at the end of the regular season versus the Oakland Raiders, leaving Graham to play through his ankle injury throughout the Eagles Superbowl run in the playoffs.
Having Graham back for week one is huge for the Eagles defensive front, although he’ll have to get back into game shape and he’ll have exactly 17 days to do it.
Last season, Graham brought the pressure early and often throughout the year, adding a career-best 9.5 sacks on his 2017 resume. The 30-year-old Graham also logged 666 snaps for the Birds, which was the most snaps out of any defensive lineman on the team last season. The savvy veteran was on the field for 65 percent of the time and Jim Schwartz is more than happy to have him back in his lineup.
Look for Graham to have every incentive to be back to wreaking havoc in 2018, as he’s still in search of a new contract. It will be interesting to see how Howie works his magic with this situation moving forward.
“Brandon is a hugely valuable part of our team,” Howie Roseman told NJ.com in April. “Obviously, he is in the last year of his deal. He has been one of the most productive players at his position. He deserves whatever he can get. At the same time, we have a cap and we are trying to fit everyone in.”
There is plenty of time for the Eagles front office to figure out the next steps, but right now they can focus on Graham getting back to his former self for week 1.