Eagles finalizing deal with Brandon Graham to bring the legend out of retirement

Eagles finalizing deal with Brandon Graham to bring the legend out of retirement originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

BG is back.

The Eagles and Brandon Graham are finalizing a deal to bring the two-time Super Bowl champion out of retirement for his 16th NFL season, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Graham, 37, retired after the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX but the Eagles have a desperate need at edge rusher that the Eagles legend will help fill for the rest of the 2025 season.

On Monday afternoon, 97.5 The Fanatic's Bill Colarulo reported that Graham was expected to sign this week and CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr reported that Graham would announce his return on Tuesday.

Graham is expected to officially announce his return on Tuesday morning and promoted that announcement on Monday evening.

Brandon Graham has some special news for you guys tomorrow #FlyEaglesFlypic.twitter.com/prAwCrJT0D

- Brandon Graham Unblocked (@BG_Unblocked) October 20, 2025

On Sunday before the Eagles faced the Vikings in Minnesota, news broke that Graham was considering a return and his teammates were excited to learn about it after the win.

It would mean a lot," Nakobe Dean said. It would mean a lot. No matter if he comes back in any capacity. If he plays every snap or no snaps, it don't matter. The energy that BG brings is unparalleled. So just to have a guy like that in the locker room, it would be great. And he can still ball, for sure."

The Eagles had a clear need at edge rusher. They entered Sunday's game against the Vikings with four healthy outside linebackers: Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, Joshua Uche and Patrick Johnson. But then Ojulari went down with a hamstring injury. Last week, Za'Darius Smith abruptly retired. They already lost Ogbo Okoronkwo for the season to a triceps injury. And they have been without Nolan Smith for four weeks on Injured Reserve with his own triceps injury.

So now the Eagles will get Graham back out of retirement and Smith is nearing a return from IR. There's a chance the Eagles could still look for a trade to further bolster this group, but at least some help is already coming.

Brandon Graham?" Jalyx Hunt said Sunday night. Shout out, BG! Shout out BG! ... He's got years of experience. What is it, 16 years now, 15 years? A lot of years of experience. Just going to use him as a well and excited to have him back. That's the guy."

And even though he's 37 now, Graham should help. We saw that last season.

When the 2024 season began, the Eagles expected Graham to have a limited role but Graham was playing very well and Vic Fangio played him a ton. Graham was playing at a high level until he tore his triceps in Week 12 in Los Angeles. He was initially ruled out for the season but Graham did return for Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles won, but Graham re-tore his triceps.

Graham retired in a tearful press conference this offseason but admitted he might not have retired had he not been able to suit up for the Super Bowl.

I felt like me being able to be a part of that, that was all I needed to know (to retire)," Graham said. I felt like my prayers was answered being able to come back and be with them boys one last time.

And I didn't know how it was gonna be, for real. I mean, we won and of course the competitor in me wanted to come back. But I know this, I couldn't ask for nothing sweeter than this. And I'm thankful to have come back and to be able to play my last game like my coach said with some integrity and play good, at that. So I can always hang my hat on that where I played good in my last game, went out on my own terms and went out a champion."

The Eagles initially drafted Graham with the No. 13 overall pick out of Michigan in the 2010 draft. After a slow start to his career, Graham became a starter and then a legend and played more seasons (15) than any player in franchise history. His 76 1/2 sacks rank him third on the Eagles' all-time list.

And now he'll get a chance to add to that total in 2026 as he tries to win his third Super Bowl.