Philadelphia Eagles debate table: Might Corey Graham return?

What if there was some way that the Philadelphia Eagles could re-sign Corey Graham? Well, they may be able to do just that, but is that wise?

Safety Corey Graham is currently in football limbo following the Philadelphia Eagles‘ decision not to re-sign him after the one-year deal he signed in 2017. When we last saw him, he recorded eight tackles in Super Bowl LII. That helped ‘The Birds’ in winning and bringing the Lombardi Trophy to ‘The City of Brotherly Love’.

Unfortunately, a lack of cap space disallowed the Eagles from keeping a man who was now a two-time Super Bowl champion in the nest. Not too long ago, Philly’s defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, was very complimentary of the man who picked off Case Keenum in the NFC Championship Game, stating his versatility ‘played a significant part in being able to move Malcolm (Jenkins) around’.

Tough decisions had to be made, especially with cap concerns, and in the end, Graham was thrown into the pool of uncertainty that is free agency. To this point, no one’s inquired about his services.

So, what now?

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‘The Birds’ have several young guys in the fold, but most are unproven. Outside of the starters, Jenkins and Rodney McLeod, there’s Jeremy Reaves, Ryan Neal, Stephen Roberts, Chris Maragos and Tre Sullivan.

Some of you are probably wondering how Philly might be able to afford this. We’re glad you asked.

With the release of Mychal Kendricks, Philadelphia will carry $1.6 million in dead money, but they’ll also have a little over $5 million to spend.

This has worked before.

Last year, Graham’s salary in Philly was $1.6 million. He’ll turn 33 years old on July 5th but he’d have to do little to reacclimate himself to Schwartz’s scheme. Remember? Philly waited until August to sign him a season ago, and things worked out just fine.

With his experience, he knows what’s required of a professional athlete in the offseason and shouldn’t have to do much to get himself ready to play. He’s been around this block before. With unanswered questions at the safety position, there isn’t anyone at the Novacare Complex who wouldn’t be happy with him being there.

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There are other options. They can go with the guys they already have for now, or they could transition Rasul Douglas to safety (it’s been talked about before). Whatever they do, re-signing Graham buys them some time if they go that route, even if it is one of those ‘band-aid theories’ that Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman says he doesn’t subscribe to.

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