Reuben Frank and Dave Zangaro bring back Stay or Go in 2024, trying to figure out the futures of every Eagles player on the roster.
We already looked at quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, interior offensive line, offensive tackle, specialists and defensive tackle.
Up today: Edge
Brandon Graham
Roob: Nobody has ever spent 15 years with the Eagles. Nobody has ever played 200 regular-season games for the Eagles. Brandon Graham needs to be the first. Not because we all love B.G. Not because he deserves to set every franchise longevity record. But because he can still play. Graham didn’t play a ton last year – about 23 snaps per game – but he was very good in a role that perfectly suited a 35-year-old edge rusher. Picked up four sacks, including one in the playoff game, and increased his career total to 73, 4th-most in franchise history behind Reggie White, Trent Cole and Clyde Simmons. All I know is if everybody played as hard last year as B.G. the Eagles wouldn’t have fallen apart.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: This is obviously a tricky one. Graham will be 36 for this upcoming season but he has always said he wants to play 15 years in the NFL and with the Eagles. Even though he’s not an every down player anymore, this really should happen. Graham was a solid contributor in a limited role in 2023. The bigger problem was that he ended up being the third man in the rotation instead of Nolan Smith. But Graham played well in Year 14 and was one of the few guys who showed up in the playoff game. He’s a pending free agent but we know he wants to be here and will probably take a hometown discount to finish his career the way he wants.
Verdict: Stays
Tarron Jackson
Roob: Jackson has been around a few years now but hasn’t really played since 2021, and I feel like the Eagles need better depth at the edge position than what late-round guys like Jackson and Patrick Johnson give them.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: The former sixth-round pick from Coastal Carolina didn’t play in a single game for the Eagles in 2023 after playing in 21 over the previous two seasons. That’s sometimes the way things go for late-round picks. They get a chance early in their careers but then the roster turns over and they don’t get those opportunities anymore. Jackson will be in camp and will have a shot to make the roster but I don’t see it happening for him.
Verdict: Goes
Patrick Johnson
Roob: See Tarron Jackson above.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: I think it’s really unfair to clump Jackson and Johnson together. Jackson didn’t play in a single game in 2023 and Johnson played in 15 and has played in 48 games over his three-year NFL career. The big difference here is that Johnson has been a really good special teams player. In fact, Johnson played 299 special teams snaps in 2023, which ranked him behind just Josh Jobe (323) and Kelee Ringo (305). Over the past three seasons, Johnson has played 868 special teams snaps, the most on the team. While that doesn’t guarantee Johnson a roster, it certainly gives him a much better chance. After all, special teams is the only unit that lived up to expectations last year.
Verdict: Stays
Terrell Lewis
Roob: Lewis had six sacks in three years as a backup with the Rams before but didn’t play last year while splitting time with the Bears and Saints. Maybe there’s something there. He was once a 3rd-round pick and he has played close to 1,000 career snaps. But if it hasn’t happened for him in four years it probably won’t happen for him now.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: I’m excited to see Lewis in camp. He was a third-round pick out of Alabama back in 2020 and the Eagles signed him to a deal after the season. In three NFL seasons with the Rams, he’s played in 30 games and started 7 but he hasn’t really become much of a threat rushing the passer.
Verdict: Goes
Julian Okwara
Roob: This is a 26-year-old edge rusher drafted in the 3rd-round a few years ago who was good enough to pick up 5.0 sacks in 2021 despite playing fewer than 400 snaps. So there’s something there, and this is a typical Howie Roseman move, picking up a formerly productive player who’s still in his prime and has a chance to help with zero cap risk. I like that Roseman is looking everywhere for pass-rush help, but the bottom line is Okwara has just four sacks the last two years as a rotational player, and the odds of him finding his way onto the 53 aren’t great. Bringing him in makes sense, but he’s a longshot.
Verdict: Goes
Dave: I’m intrigued by Okwara — even more than Lewis — and he’ll have a legitimate shot to make this team. But it’s a really tricky one to figure out right now because we don’t know what’s going to happen with Haason Reddick and we don’t know what’s going to happen in the draft. My guess is that Okwara will be a legitimate bubble guy who might get pushed off the roster if the Eagles use a Day 2 pick on an edge rusher.
Verdict: Goes
Haason Reddick
Roob: I feel like this will get done. It is a tricky situation because Reddick does turn 30 in September and Howie Roseman doesn’t love giving big contracts to guys in their 30s. And the James Bradberry situation will only make him less inclined to do so. And Reddick did finish the season with five games without a sack so that could be interpreted as a sign of regression. He certainly didn’t have the season he had in 2022. But then again, how much of that was due to coaching issues and the way he was used? Bottom line is Reddick is still a very good edge rusher, and the Eagles need him, and I expect Reddick’s camp and Roseman to find some common ground and get a deal done.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: Reddick is going to turn 30 early in the 2024 season but his production speaks for itself. He’s had double digit sacks in each of the last four seasons and has done it twice in an Eagles uniform. That type of production is hard to find. This whole permission to seek a trade thing is a tool to figure out Reddick’s value to the other teams in the NFL. The Eagles are a team in the hunt to win a Super Bowl and Reddick might be their best defensive player. It’s not worth it to trade a guy like that with his ability to get after quarterbacks. Ultimately, I think Reddick and the Eagles find a way to keep him in Philly for another couple seasons. How about a two-year, $45 million deal? That gets Reddick over the $20 million mark but doesn’t reset the market. That seems fair.
Verdict: Stays
Nolan Smith
Roob: He’ll be here, but the Eagles need a heck of a lot more from their 2023 1st-round pick than they got last year. It’s too early to write off Smith, but between the lack of playing time, the lack of production when he did play and that lingering shoulder injury there’s a lot to be concerned about. Smith just turned 23 last month and should benefit from playing under Vic Fangio. But no two ways about it, this is a big year for him.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: Because there was so much attention on Jalen Carter this season, Smith flew a bit under the radar. But there’s no question that the other rookie from Georgia had a disappointing rookie season. After a really flashy training camp, there was significant buzz around Smith but then he played just 188 defensive snaps all season and didn’t really make much of an impact. It’s way too early to make any kind of sweeping statements on a player’s career after one season but the Eagles are going to need more from Smith going forward, especially at a position where the future is very much in question.
Verdict: Stays
Josh Sweat
Roob: The entire team regressed the second half of the season, but Sweat’s regression was more pronounced than anybody’s. Through the first Dallas game, he had 25 sacks in his past 37 games and had really established himself as one of the NFC’s most dangerous edge rushers. Then eight straight games without a sack. Sweat is still only 26, which is crazy for a guy who’s going into his seventh season. But like Reddick, he’s also due to become a free agent after this season, and how should Roseman approach that negotiation? Is Sweat the guy who made a Pro Bowl in 2021 and had 11 sacks in 2022? Or the guy who went half a season without a sack? I feel like it’s almost impossible to evaluate anybody based on the second half of last season because there was such a high level of dysfunction throughout the franchise. I’ll be very surprised if Sweat doesn’t return to form in 2024.
Verdict: Stays
Dave: Aside from the questions about Reddick’s future, it’s fair to wonder about Sweat’s future too. Because he’s entering the final year of the three-year extension he signed during the 2021 season. He’ll be 27 before the start of the 2024 season but the Eagles might want to lock him up again, especially if they don’t find a way to make things work with Reddick. Sweat got off to a fantastic start last season but really fell off in the second half of the season. Although, it’s fair to point out that while his sack numbers plummeted Sweat had the same amount of QB hits in 2023 and he did in his 11-sack season the year before. The worrisome thing here is that Sweat played a career-high 828 snaps last year and didn’t seem to handle that well, so it’s fair to wonder how much he’ll be able to handle going forward. Either way, expect him to be back this season.
Verdict: Stays
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