The Philadelphia Eagles are bringing back Brandon Graham on a four-year deal to keep the edge rusher off the free agent market.
Chip Kelly has orchestrated an exodus of some of the best Eagles out-of-town, but Brandon Graham will not follow LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and Trent Cole out-of-town after reaching an agreement on a four-year deal, according to NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport.
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Graham gets $14 million in guaranteed money on the four-year deal worth as much as $26 million. The No. 13 overall pick by the Eagles out of Michigan in the 2010 NFL Draft, Graham has arguably been one of the best defenders in the Kelly era.
He hasn’t played a significant amount of snaps, only starting one game in the last two years and 13 in his five-year career, but on a per-snap basis, Pro Football Focus rated him as the best edge rusher per 100 snaps.
The #Eagles signed Brandon Graham to a 4-year deal worth $26M, source said. He gets $14M guaranteed
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2015
With Cole released, Graham is in line to be a full-time starter this season and build off his 2014 campaign when he matched his career-high with 5.5 sacks.
Graham also set a new career-high with four forced fumbles, which matched his entire career total the first four years of his career, and finished with 46 combined tackles.
He has 17 career sacks in 64 games.
With Kelly letting Maclin, McCoy and Cole this offseason in free agency, a trade and a releasing, he is letting it known that he is going to build the roster with his own guys and Graham is one of those guys who has played his role well the last few years.
However, now his role is expanding and he’ll be counted on providing a bigger impact than earlier in his career and living up to this new contract.
Do you think the Eagles overpaid for Graham or is this a deal Eagles fans can champion Kelly for making this deal?
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