Ranking 10 potential Eagles draft replacements for Brandon Brooks
What’s next for the Philadelphia Eagles as Brandon Brandon Brooks retires?
When many of us went to bed on Tuesday night, we didn’t have any idea that we’d wake up to the news that the Philadelphia Eagles would make Brandon Brooks available for members of the media at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday. That’s how fast things change in the NFL though.
We expected that retirement was the announcement, and it was. Now that his career is over, it’s easy to remember what he’s meant. He’s been a warrior both off of the field and on, but he’s also something else, especially recently. He’s been the subject of some chatter.
There had been some rumblings about whether or not he was too expensive to keep around because, after three straight trips to the Pro Bowl from 2017 to 2019, he’s spent much of the past two seasons on the injured reserve. There also wasn’t any sign he’d be sturdier upon a return.
As he put things in his farewell presser, he knew that he could play. The question was how long he could hold up.
Fear that was probably caused by watching the Eagles pay Nelson Agholor, Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean Jackson huge chunks of Philly’s salary expenditures despite not playing probably didn’t help matters much. Brooks did carry a healthy price tag. He represented a $19 million cap hit in 2022. He also represented $15.7 million in dead cap money if the Eagles elected to move on.
Brandon Brooks deserved better than to be seen as a financial burden though, and his team did indeed restructure his deal in the wake of his retirement to allow both sides to move on without stress. Those are the types of decisions that are made every year in the NFL, but even though the Eagles proved that they can win without him, at the risk of sounding disrespectful to the guys who are already here, his exit leaves a void.
The Eagles would be wise to invest some draft capital on an interior offensive lineman. How early they do so is anyone’s guess, but here’s a ranking of a few guys that make sense.