Potential Eagles free-agent targets with connections to Jonathan Gannon

Everson Griffen is old, but he’d still upgrade the Eagles’ pass rush.

Knowing that Everson Griffen is 34 years old is enough to turn much of the Eagles contingent off immediately. By NFL standards, he’s a senior citizen, and easy arguments can be made for any theory stating the Birds don’t need another guy on defense that’s over 30.

Keep this in mind. Brandon Graham is 33 and turns 34 in April. Do you see where this is headed?

Here’s why adding Everson Griffen might work. Philly doesn’t need Griffen to be the guy that earned a Second-Team All-Pro nod in 2017. They don’t need him to be the guy that racked up four Pro Bowl nods in the span of five seasons. Here’s all that has to happen.

If Griffen could serve as another veteran presence and join that already-impressive defensive end rotation, let’s say he’d handle about 15-20 snaps in pass-rushing situations, that would give the Birds the extra punch that they thought they were getting from Ryan Kerrigan. Griffen is definitely still capable of doing that.

In 2020, his second stint with the Vikings, he appeared in nine games and made six starts. The result was 15 tackles, a forced fumble, five sacks, and ten additional quarterback hits. Just in case you’re keeping score, Fletcher Cox played in 16 games for the Birds. He added 35 tackles, two forced fumbles, and 3.5 sacks to the Eagles’ cause.

Trust us. Griffen can contribute in a limited role. That isn’t to say that the Birds need to break the bank. That isn’t to say that they shouldn’t draft someone and seek other options first, but if he’s hanging around and Philly can get him for a discount, this could be an idea that’s worth tossing around.