Eagles Extend Brandon Graham, Gain Cap Relief
PHILADELPHIA - Brandon Graham has agreed to a restructured contract with the Eagles that essentially serves as a one-year extension through the 2022 season.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Graham’s new deal is worth “close to $20 million over two years.”
Graham was scheduled to make $13M in 2021 and count $17.938M against the salary cap, the second-largest active cap hit on the team behind defensive tackle Fletcher Cox's $23.88M charge.
The largest of all, of course, is former quarterback Carson Wentz, who will count $33.82 against Philadelphia's 2021 cap figure while playing for Indianapolis.
Graham's previous number would have taken up 8.66 percent of the 2021 cap allotment vs. 11.54 percent for Cox and 16.34 percent for Wentz, the largest dead-money hit in NFL history.
We will need to see the final details of Graham's extension but judging by the structure the Eagles likely guaranteed Graham about $7M more for some immediate cap relief, likely about $8M. The team needs to be cap compliant by Wednesday at 4 p.m.
"At the end of the day," said Graham on the team website, "this is where I want to be. I love the energy and I know we're going to get things done around here."
On Monday, the NFLPA's latest salary-cap report had the Eagles $17,263,129 over the $182.5M cap. That was before Brandon Brooks' restructure and now Graham's extension.
Also, a Jake Elliott restructure needs to be filed, per a source, and one more tweak could be in the pipeline which would do the trick for Howie Roseman.
In addition to the above moves, the Eagles released receiver DeSean Jackson and restructured the contracts of cornerback Darius Slay and center Jason Kelce. Pending moves are also expected when it comes to tight end Zach Ertz, who could be traded or released, and WR Alshon Jeffery and defensive tackle Malik Jackson, both of whom are expected to be released.
Graham, who will turn 33 next month, remains one of the Eagles' top defensive playmakers, finishing the 2020 season with 8.0 sacks and 16 quarterback hits in what was his first Pro Bowl season.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Thursday on The Middle with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, former Eagles OT Barrett Brooks streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and SportsMap Radio. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
