The Philadelphia Eagles could really use some help at pass rusher. Veteran Za'Darius Smith retired from the NFL on Monday after briefly joining the Eagles at the start of the season. One surprising player could end up replacing Smith as the Eagles look to get back on track in Week 7.
Eagles legend Brandon Graham is reportedly mulling coming out of retirement, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
If Graham did return, it would be his 16th season in the NFL.
Graham retired after the Super Bowl earlier this year. But it seems he could be willing to return and give Philadelphia some much-needed juice rushing the passer.
The Eagles are widely considered to be in the market for an edge rusher. Many fans expect Philadelphia to make a move around the NFL trade deadline on November 4th.
Perhaps Philadelphia won't need to make a trade at all if Graham comes out of retirement.
Eagles' Brandon Graham teased unretiring earlier this offseason
The possibility of Graham unretiring has been out there for months. But Sunday's update is the first time it actually felt like a real possibility.
Graham teased the possibility that he could return to the NFL during an interview with Kay Adams back in April.
During that interview, Graham explained that he felt “90% retired” and that he wanted to continue his training routine to keep his body right.
“The [10%] is how much I want to continue training the way I'm training,” Graham answered. “I'm training to look good [but]…training to train for a game is different, but I haven't really changed that yet. I just want to go out there and speed it up to where I want to look good but make sure I'm, you know, staying fit while I'm still rehabbing my arm. Making sure that when I do retire, I'll stay in the habit of that. Because a lot of guys tell me when you leave, you've got to stay in the habit of working out.”
The veteran edge rusher clearly wants to stay healthy, football or no. But he made it clear back in April that he was eyeballing a return.
It will be fascinating to see if the outcome of Sunday's game influences Graham's decision one way or another.
The Eagles face a major test against the Vikings in Week 7.
