Brandon Graham has not confirmed his retirement just yet, but if the longest-tenured player in Eagles history wants to keep playing, he appears to need another lengthy rehab process.
After making it back from a Week 12 triceps tear to play in Super Bowl LIX, Graham is believed to have suffered the same injury during that game. Graham re-tore his triceps in the Eagles’ blowout win, 97.5 The Fanatic’s Derrick Gunn reports.
This familiar injury has already resulted in surgery, Gunn added during an appearance on 97.5’s “Kincade and Salciunas.” Graham played 13 defensive snaps in the game, recording one solo tackle. Graham was not part of the Eagles’ sack binge, which played the lead role in the two-time reigning champion Chiefs being overpowered, but he served as an inspirational presence after coming back from an apparent season-ending injury.
Graham, 36, confirmed he had suffered a triceps tear during an Eagles regular-season win over the Rams. This was widely expected to knock him out for the season, due to the late-November juncture in which it occurred, but rumblings about Graham being able to come back if Philadelphia booked another Super Bowl trip emerged soon after.
The Eagles designated Graham for return after the NFC championship game, and he impressed in practice to the point the NFC champs made the decision to elevate the 15-year veteran to the 53-man roster. They then made Bryce Huff a healthy scratch for Super Bowl LIX, offering a rough conclusion to the underwhelming free-agency addition’s first season in Philly. The Eagles had given Huff a three-year, $51.1M deal as their highest-paid 2024 free agent. Huff’s 2025 money is guaranteed.
Graham, however, is not under contract, joining key Philly pass-rushers Sweat and Milton Williams in that regard. He said shortly after the Super Bowl he would discuss retirement with his family. The 2010 first-round pick, who now has two Super Bowl rings and three Super Bowl appearances, said before training camp he was planning to retire at season’s end. Going out with a second championship and needing another round of rehab would seemingly point to retirement, but the Michigan alum made a surprise journey back from his last tear.
After signing two straight one-year deals in March, the most recent for $4M, Graham may need more time to determine if another Eagles deal makes sense. The organization may feel the same. For now, Graham is going through a familiar rehab process after the second half of his season took a strange turn.