NFC East Notes: Eagles, Graham, Redskins

Eagles linebacker/defensive end Brandon Graham is ready to cash in after turning in the best season of his career. The 29-year-old (30 in April) has one more season to go on his contract, but he’s looking for an extension that will reflect his performance.

“For me, it’s all about getting as much as you can while you can play because when it’s over, it’s over,” he said (via Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia). “I know Howie [Roseman] and those guys, if they want me here, they’re going to make sure that they get me here. For me, I want to be here. Everybody knows I want to be here. They see the passion I have and I’m happy to be able to bring the trophy back to Philly…Now, it’s just all about just making sense, just getting me protected for the future. Because obviously I want to retire here and I know I’m going to retire here because I’ve been here a long time. I would love to retire here. It’s all on what they want to do. I’m just going to embrace it, whatever it is.”

In 2017, Graham racked up a career high 9.5 sacks to go along with 47 total tackles. He also graded out as the eighth-best edge defender in the NFL with a 91.6 overall score from Pro Football Focus, nearly matching his 93.9 grade from 2016.

Last year, the Eagles rewarded Graham with an extra $1.5MM in incentives for the final two years of his deal as a showing of good faith. This time around, Graham is looking for something more substantial as he enters the final year of his pact. As it stands, Graham is set to carry an $8MM cap number in 2018, which ranks just 13th amongst 4-3 DEs in the NFL.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

• Here’s a crazy scenario raised by Mike Florio of PFT: If Kirk Cousins is franchise tagged and signs the tender before March 14, Florio wonders aloud if the Redskins could back out of the Alex Smith trade. Cousins signing the tender would trigger a one-year, $34.47MM contract and it’s hard to see a team giving up a lot in a trade for a player who is only under contract for one year at that exorbitant price. As we learned on Thursday, Cousins could also fight a franchise tag by filing a grievance against Washington. Redskins president Bruce Allen is apparently thinking about going the petty route, but that could wind up backfiring. Ultimately, the best move the Redskins could make would be to do nothing and allow Cousins to hit the open market.
• Many teams will consider parting with high-priced veterans this offseason, but the Redskins appear to have no real cap casualty candidates, as Rich Tandler of NBC Sports Washington writes. The Redskins, with roughly $31MM in cap space after factoring in Smith’s contract, don’t have much flexibility snce nearly all of their expensive players are necessary. The only potential cut would be defensive lineman Terrell McClain, who is set to carry a $4.7MM cap number in 2018. However, the Redskins wouldn’t save much by dropping him. Cutting tight end Jordan Reed, who has a $10.1MM cap hit, would only save the team $4.7MM when considering the dead money hit, so it seems likely that the team will hold on to him and see if he can stay healthy.
• The Giants announced that they’ll keep multiple coaches from the previous staff.