Eagles most likely got Brandon Graham as a steal with his new contract

Some say the Philadelphia Eagles overpaid Brandon Graham this offseason. In all reality, his new contract is most likely a steal.

Late last week, the Philadelphia Eagles made their most significant move of the offseason so far. They brought back their longtime veteran defensive end, Brandon Graham. Although Graham made it known that he planned on testing the Free Agency market when the league new year began, he couldn’t wait to ink a new deal. So instead of waiting it out a couple of weeks, Graham came to the realization that his heart belongs in Philly. With that, he signed a three-year deal.

Having Graham back in Philly for three more years was exciting. However, the final cost of his contract is what had many scratching their heads. With Graham’s deal being three-years, worth $40 million in total, it seemed like a very steep price to pay for a 30-year-old pass rusher, who just turned in a statistically underwhelming season with only four sacks.

Once you look past the sacks and realize how crucial Graham’s presence on the team is, you realize that the $40 million isn’t so bad. Graham has never been a sack-master in his career. His ability to create pressure is phenomenal though. Not only does Graham consistently disrupt the backfield, but he’s also come up big in some clutch moments (Super Bowl LII, anybody?)

The Eagles did the right thing and got back a consistent pass rusher, who is very important to the leadership in the locker room. And as the price tag may seem a bit crazy, the Eagles most likely got a discount from Graham for two reasons. One being because Graham wanted to come back to Philly. A premium price was on his mind anyway. Reason number two is because of how the market was shaping up.

Is Brandon Graham’s contract a steal?

You may not think Graham is worth $40 million. But guess what? The market probably figured he would’ve been worth more. Just like many fans don’t believe Carson Wentz is worth $200 million. Again, but the market probably does. When dealing with Free Agency, sometimes you have to pay more than a players value. Every year players get overpaid because a market is dry. With Graham set to be one of the bigger names in the pass-rushing market, he was expected to get a nice payday that the Eagles probably couldn’t have outbid.

That’s why the Eagles attempted to lock Graham in early. Because if they didn’t, a team that’s desperate for pass rushers would’ve broken the bank for him. And now looking at how the market is shaping up with guys like DeMarcus Lawrence and Jadeveon Clowney becoming unavailable, Graham was fitting to be one of, if not, the top defensive end available. If that were the case, he probably would’ve seen well over three-years, worth $40 million.

The Free Agency market is a game of chess. You have to know how the market is going to play out well before it even opens up. With Howie Roseman assuming the obvious that most of the top edge-rushers were going to get franchise tagged, he knew he had to lock Graham in before he became the top pass rusher available. With that, it’s beginning to look like they got Brandon Graham as a steal for $40 million. Now, their defensive end unit doesn’t take a big hit.