Philadelphia Eagles: Brandon Graham Re-Signing Grade

At one point, it seemed like the Philadelphia Eagles wouldn’t be able to re-sign Brandon Graham, as that was the popular consensus despite the fact that the team let Trent Cole go in a cap-saving move. However, the Eagles did continue to show interest in the versatile 3-4 outside linebacker and 4-3 defensive end, who is coming off of the best season of his career.

The Eagles did end up re-signing him yesterday to the tune of a four-year deal worth $6.5 million per year with $14 million of the total $26 million being guaranteed, as per Philly Mag’s Tim McManus. It’s light on overall money, but Chip Kelly and the Eagles were definitely generous when it came to giving Graham the guaranteed goods. That was likely the deciding factor for Graham, who certainly had other suitors, as we know the New York Giants were hot on his tail.

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Over the past couple of days, the Eagles and Giants emerged as the favorites to sign the high-upside pass rusher, and some believed the Giants would be able to throw more money at the soon-to-be 27-year-old Michigan product. However, the Giants already have to worry about giving Jason Pierre-Paul a long-term deal after franchising him, whereas the Eagles are just looking to keep some sort of a pass rushing duo intact with 2014 bounce-back candidate Connor Barwin locked in one side following Cole’s cap-saving release.

Essentially, the Eagles were the team with the much bigger need, since, unlike the Giants, they didn’t have an elite pass rusher, and they also didn’t have a true duo in place without Cole (Robert Ayers functions as a really nice partner for JPP in New York). The Eagles had no choice but to re-sign Graham, otherwise they would have been forced to sign someone like Jason Worilds or draft someone after burning a first-round pick on likely bust Marcus Smith, who couldn’t make any sort of an impact as a rookie and already seems like an afterthought despite spending just one year in the league.

Given that the New York Daily News’s Ralph Vacchiano reported that Graham was looking for $30 million over four seasons, the fact that the Eagles were able to lock up Graham for $1 million per season less than that seems like a win on paper. But since more than half of Graham’s contract is in guaranteed money, it’s clear that Kelly paid a high price for the in-his-prime outside linebacker.

That said, it was a price the Eagles had to pay, since they were bereft of legitimate alternatives. Derrick Morgan, Brian Orakpo, and Worilds are three top options, but there’s a chance that all of them would have costed more money than Graham, who is already familiar with the team anyway. It’s unclear if Morgan and Worilds are better options, especially since Graham has proven to be a useful run defender after recording 35 solo tackles last season (46 in total).

One of the NFL’s most efficient pass rushers, Graham flourished last season in a limited role after showing promise in 2013, as he turned just 225 pass rushing snaps into Pro Football Focus’s best Pass Rushing Productivity among 47 qualifying OLBs with at least 104 snaps as a pass rusher. The consistency at which he puts pressure on the quarterback is far more important than the fact that he doesn’t rack up high sack numbers, because disruption is the key in this league.

However, the fact that Graham has never been an every-down player hurt his market value significantly, since there are serious questions as to whether or not he can hold up as a true starting pass rusher in this league. The Eagles are now in a position where he’ll likely be an every-down player, but we’ll see exactly what the future holds for the Eagles edge rushers. What we do know is that Barwin is a playmaker who can go off in any given game, while Graham is a consistent source of pressure in his impressive, albeit worryingly limited, snaps.

Even if Brandon Graham isn’t able to hold up as an every-down player, this deal isn’t a total loss for the Eagles despite all of the guaranteed money. He’ll still give you about 300 excellent snaps against the pass, and he was also fourth at the position in PFF’s Run Stop%. While the jury is still out on his stamina, the verdict on his skill-set is clear; he’s more than a one-dimensional 3-4 outside linebacker, and his pass rushing itself is much better than his career-highs of 5.5 sacks indicate.

Oct 26, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Brandon Graham (55) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Eagles 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Eagles are giving Graham plenty of guaranteed money, but it will be interesting to see how it is spread out in his contract. As this team showed us with the LeSean McCoy trade and Cole’s release, the Eagles are a very cap-conscious team.

In fact, the Eagles cap hit for Graham is lower, and, because of Graham’s youth and upside, he’s a significantly better investment despite the risk involved.

He’s already a better player, and the four-year deal means that the Eagles have him locked up for what will theoretically be his best years, especially since he’s a much more polished player in all phases.

As some of us expected, the Eagles made Cole a cap casualty in order to lock up Graham, and they unsurprisingly saved some money in the process despite the fact that they will shell out about $3.5 million in guaranteed money per season.

If you compare Graham’s contract to other 3-4 OLB deals, you’ll see that he’ll make less money per year than Ahmad Brooks at the time he signed his deal, though Brooks could end up being a cap casualty.

Not many players have more guaranteed money in their contract than non-guaranteed money, and only three non-rookie OLBs have been given more guaranteed money in total than Graham.

The Eagles didn’t exactly hedge their bets on Graham in the risk department, but that means they are high on his ability to make an impact in some sort of a way. I’m not sure if they are sold on him as an every-down player, but I guess we’ll see if Graham, who has been monstrous when he does get on the field, can be that sort of a player.

There’s plenty of upside in this deal, so it’s hard to criticize the Eagles for finally locking up one of their most talented players, and he should be in for a beastly 2015 season; I’m very bullish on his prospects.

Final Grade: B

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