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While the Philadelphia Eagles were able to secure a commanding win on Sunday Night Football, beating the you-know-what out of the Los Angeles Rams with an absolutely masterful effort by Saquon Barkley, the victory came at a cost, with Brandon Graham suffering a triceps tear he has personally described as season-ending.
Talking to reporters after the game, Graham let it be known that while this isn't the way his final season in the NFL was supposed to go, as he instead wanted to be out rushing the passer with surprising effectiveness for a 36-year-old, he still plans to lead the team from the sidelines, instead of on the field.
“I have to make sure I get out there and be the best leader I can be, like I always do, and let [the other team] know how lucky they are that I am out,” Graham told reporters. “I'm hoping we're holding that trophy, regardless. I'm going to do my part as a captain.
“The mission is still the mission. I'm still going to be me. I'm still going to have fun, talk my stuff, and, like I said, people lucky I'm done. But they better know somebody coming right behind me.”
A pretty powerful statement, right? You bet, but for it to come true, the Eagles need to have somebody “coming right behind him” in order to keep Vic Fangio's defense firing on all cylinders against both the run and the pass.
A tough ask? You bet, but when you consider that the Eagles aren't restricted from adding additional athletes to their roster to pad out their depth chart, there are some options Howie Roseman should consider signing in the lead-up to Week 13, including a familiar face who Philadelphia's Executive Vice President of Football Operations has traded for in the past.
3 replacements for Brandon Graham in the Eagles' edge rusher rotation
1. Genard Avery
Whoa, talk about a blast from the past, right? Avery, an uber-athletic edge rusher who shined with the Cleveland Browns before being acquired for a *sigh* fourth-round pick, has already played in 36 games with 12 starts for the Eagles from 2019-21, including for one season under Nick Sirianni.
Now granted, Avery wasn't particularly good for the Eagles in Philadelphia, amassing just 60 tackles, 10 QB hits, and three sacks over his 35 games – versus 40 tackles, 14 QB hits, and 4.5 sacks during his rookie season alone – but that hasn't kept teams from taking an interest in the pride of Memphis, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Indianapolis Colts all giving him a shot between 2022-24.
Suffering season-ending injuries in Week 14 of 2022 and another in August of 2023, Avery spent much of the 2024 NFL season with the Indianapolis Colts, who signed him to the practice squad in August, to their main roster in September, and ultimately waived him on November 23rd to make room for Tyquan Lewis coming off of injured reserve.
Like BG, Avery is a short and stout edge rusher who can give a team a different look versus prototypical players like Josh Sweat or a speedy string bean like Nolan Smith.
While he probably wouldn't take over Graham's role full-time, as he did rank second on the team in snaps over Smith, Avery could fill out the rotation on passing downs until Bryce Huff returns from IR and play special teams along the way, as he does have 584 special teams snaps on his resume as a pro.
2. Randy Gregory
If the Eagles want to sign a “name” edge rusher like their efforts in 2022, when Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph joined the team midway through the season in the pursuit of a Super Bowl win, the top name on the market – barring a surprise release – has to be Randy Gregory.
A second-round pick out of Nebraska who began his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys, Gregory has appeared in 61 NFL games with 18 starts over his NFL career, amassing 117 combined tackles, 69 QB hits, and 22 sacks over his seven-year career.
After a run in Dallas as notable for his off-field issues as his on-field play, Gregory parlayed a great 2021 season into a five-year, $70 million contract with the Denver Broncos on which he should still be playing if he wasn't traded to the 49ers in October of 2023 alongside a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder.
After appearing in 12 games with no starts for the 49ers, where Gregory amassed 2.5 sacks across the regular season and playoffs combined, the collegiate Nebraska Cornhusker signed a new deal with the Buccaneers for the 2024 NFL season in the pursuit of keeping his NFL career alive after former Pro Bowler Shaquil Barrett announced his retirement.
And yet, Gregory didn't appear in a single game for the Buccaneers, entering a dispute with the team during the offseason that resulted in the two sides agreeing to his contract being voided with no money exchanging hands either way.
A weird situation? You bet, but that hasn't stopped teams from being interested in Gregory all the same, with the Seattle Seahawks bringing him in for a visit last month.
Could the Eagles follow in Seattle's lead? Potentially so, as if they don't at least kick the tires on a few prominent names on the free-agent market, especially after standing pat at the trade deadline despite needing some additional support in the front seven. It will undoubtedly upset more than a few fans in South Philadelphia.
3. Jalyx Hunt
Alright, is it technically cheating to pick a player who is already on the roster to replace Graham in the Eagles' rotation? Well, when the edge rusher in question has only played 42 defensive snaps in 2024, it sure feels like more of a bending-the-rules situation instead of outright breaking them.
In one corner, we have Jalyx Hunt, who has technically played a few snaps for the Eagles' defense in 2024.
A third-round pick out of Houston Christian, where he looked like Myles Garrett playing against Southland Conference, Hunt likely caught the Eagles' attention for his supreme athletic gifts as opposed to his traditional testing numbers or production against Top-25 teams.
Still, that didn't stop talent evaluators from taking a liking to Hunt, including Lance Zierlein, who gave him a fourth-round grade coming out of HCU.
“Hunt is a small-school edge defender possessing notable athletic traits and the potential to get bigger and stronger,” Zierlein wrote in his NFL.com scouting report. “He currently lacks the lower-body anchor and general play strength to go up against NFL opponents, but the team drafting him is likely to view him as a developmental prospect in need of time to build his frame and his game.
“Hunt's speed is obvious as a pass rusher and in run pursuit, but proving he can survive against a downhill running attack could be the difference between challenging for a rotational role or hoping to become a designated pass rusher.”
Unfortunately, the situation Zierlein described is basically the opposite of what Hunt now finds himself in, but this isn't Week 1. Hunt has been practicing, studying, and even playing for the Eagles' defense for much of the year, including in Week 12 when Philadelphia decided to empty the bench and give their reserves a shot to play instead of risking more starter injuries.
With one sack already on his resume from Week 7 and an opportunity to get more reps on the field, who knows, maybe Hunt will be able to fill the Eagles' DE4 role by the end of the season and challenge Huff for playing time when they're both fully healthy.
