Brandon Graham didn’t plan on suiting up again after the triceps tear. The rehab was brutal, with a tight timeline. He was 36. It could’ve and probably should’ve ended there. But when the Eagles kept winning, Graham kept working. He played 13 snaps in the Super Bowl, brace and all, fully aware he was risking re-injury. It didn’t matter. That was the exit he wanted. With his helmet on, not a cap and hoodie on the sideline. Fifteen seasons. Two Super Bowls. And now, retired. But even in those final moments, Graham wasn’t trying to make it about himself.
As the locker room emptied out postgame, he turned to Nolan Smith and gave him a sentence that now hangs over the franchise’s defensive future. “Hey man, this your room,” Graham told Smith. “Now you the guy. You the oldest guy in that room. So, let’s go out there. Let’s go take care of business.”
Smith is 24. A former first-round pick who took a while to find his legs. He’s also now the longest-tenured edge rusher in the room. It’s not just Graham who’s gone. Josh Sweat left in free agency. Milton Williams is in New England. The edge room, once a mix of veterans and ascending rotational players, is now anchored by those still trying to earn their second contracts. But Graham’s faith in Smith is intact.
“Nolan (Smith) for sure. He got the torch right now. I mean, that room changed drastically real fast, with now he’s the guy,” Graham said on the Ross Tucker Podcast, while addressing the Eagles’ defensive unit. “Sweaty (Josh Sweat) gone, myself, Milt (Milton Williams) left, I mean, all the, all the guys, everything all signs point at this.” Besides Nolan, the Eagles’ D-line is currently stacked up with the likes of Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
“Nolan, for sure, he got the torch right now…”
“That room changed drastically real fast with now he’s the guy. Sweaty gone, myself, etc…”@brandongraham55 expects third-year edge rusher Nolan Smith to step up as the leader of the DE room this season: pic.twitter.com/kjY4EaIZtb
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) June 2, 2025
This is the first spring in years where the Eagles’ defensive line room has no active player over 27. The group is young, athletic, and largely unproven. What it lacks is something the franchise had in abundance for over a decade: internal leadership.
But the Eagles’ legend believes that Nolan will need to take that big leap entering his third season, given that he’s the outside linebacker for Philly. “Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis in the tackle room,” B.G. added. “Then you got, you know, Nolan Smith, who got to make a big leap. He already did in the plan wise. Now, you got to make sure that they vocally address stuff that needs to be addressed because we’ve got to make sure we practice in a certain way.”
Following the Eagles’ D-line shuffle after the Super Bowl win, Brandon Graham wants the young players to step up into a leadership role. And he isn’t just talking about Nolan. In fact, Carter and Davis are in the mix as well. Because it isn’t just about playing well, but about taking a leadership role, especially for Nolan Smith. “So he got to be able to lead by example and what he does on that field… Now, he got to take the next step of leadership, and I think he will,” Graham concluded.
Nolan Smith enters Year 3 coming off a late-season surge that finally validated the Eagles’ long-view bet on his upside. After logging just 69 defensive snaps as a rookie, Smith saw his role expand dramatically in 2024. The staff has challenged him to lead vocally, but the mandate is clear: turn flashes into full-season consistency.
On the other side of the spectrum, B.G. also shed light on the disastrous season of the now former Eagles’ pass rusher.
Brandon Graham believes Bryce Huff didn’t fit in Vic Fangio’s system
Last year, when the Eagles handed Bryce Huff that sweet three-year $51.1 million deal, they weren’t just paying for potential. In fact, they’re banking on him bringing four years of pass rush experience straight to Philly. But let’s be real—a season marred by injuries, the guy appeared in just 12 games and recorded 13 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. The result?
Well, the Eagles are now shipping him off to San Francisco. Second straight team change for Huff. Not the kind of farewell he wanted from New York. Now that he’s packing his bags to leave for San Francisco, many are wondering what went wrong with Huff and the Eagles. And recently, Brandon Graham shed light on why this situation was already doomed from the start.
“I’ve seen different guys flourish in different systems, and then you see him (Huff) get in another system,” Graham explained on the Ross Tucker Podcast, addressing Huff’s time in New York before signing a deal with the Eagles. “It’s different, and what they asked of him this year, it just wasn’t a great marriage, I will say, because I know Huff can rush. I’ve seen him doing all that, but sometimes, it’s just different with the type of scheme and what people ask of you and they want you to be able to do, and maybe it just wasn’t that for Vic Fangio.”
See, Graham was the first one to see Huff practicing and playing in Philly, given that he’s a 15-year vet. But it’s no wonder he believes the deal didn’t work well for either party. The silver lining? The Eagles are now trading Huff, and in return, they will receive a draft pick. As for Huff, he’s gearing up to reunite with his former coach, Robert Salah, who’s now the DC in San Francisco.
Having said that, Huff will now play for the 49ers with a couple of years still remaining on his deal. And yes, Philly parting ways with Huff now totally makes sense. Why? See it this way: a pre-June 1 trade would have cost the Eagles $12.1 million in dead money in 2025, including a $4.7 million loss of cap savings. But, given that the Eagles are trading him post-June 1, it would incur just $3 million and would save Philly $4.7 million.
While Huff’s brief stint in Vic Fangio’s system didn’t turn out well for him, no doubt. But Brandon Graham still believes that he’s a baller. “I just know that he’s a baller man and hopefully for him I wanted to be a win-win for the team and a win for him, but you know in this case I want him to be happy.” The 49ers are reportedly trading for Huff in exchange for a mid-round draft pick. How will his next season turn out? We’ll see.
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