Brandon Graham is considering coming out of retirement to rejoin the Philadelphia Eagles, ESPN reported Sunday.
The report comes six days after defensive end Za’Darius Smith announced his retirement.
A two-time Super Bowl champion, Graham called it a career on March 18 after a franchise-record 206 regular-season games over 15 seasons with the Eagles.
Graham, however, noted the following last week on his “Brandon Graham Unblocked” podcast:
“I’m flattered, actually, that everybody (says), ‘Come on back, come on back. It’s pretty cool.”
The 37-year-old defensive end is a Philadelphia icon, returning from a torn triceps to play in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX triumph and making one of the biggest plays in the team’s Super Bowl championship in 2018.
A first-round draft pick (13th overall) by Philadelphia in 2010, Graham recorded 153 quarterback hits, 126 tackles for loss, 23 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. He made the Pro Bowl after an eight-sack season in 2020 and recorded a career-high 11 sacks in 2022.
Graham was one of the heroes of Philadelphia’s 41-33 win against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, recording a strip-sack of Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter to help clinch the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy.
Smith, 33, retired on Monday, four days after playing in only 17 defensive snaps in a 34-17 loss to the New York Giants. He recorded 10 tackles, three quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks in five games (two starts) this season.
A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Smith collected 70.5 sacks, 343 tackles, 10 forced fumbles and 16 passes defensed in 145 games (98 starts) for the Baltimore Ravens (2015-18), Green Bay Packers (2019-21), Minnesota Vikings (2022), Cleveland Browns (2023-24), Detroit Lions (2024) and Eagles.
