Eagles successfully claim Brandon Graham replacement off of waivers

When news broke that Brandon Graham was going to miss the rest of the season with a triceps injury, it sent Philadelphia Eagles fans into a crisis.

On one hand, losing BG, the heart and soul of the front seven, 12 games into his retirement season was a tough pill to swallow, but his injury also added a logistical issue to the team as well, as the Eagles are suddenly very thing at the defensive end position, assuming Graham lands on IR alongside Bryce Huff.

With just three outside linebackers on the active roster left in starters, Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith, plus rookie third-round pick Jaylix Hunt, who was widely considered a project heading into the year, and the Eagles’ depth looked dangerously thin, with fans hypothesizing about everyone from Randy Gregory to practice squad member Tarron Jackson as potential replacements.

And yet, in a weird twist of NFL serendipity, the Eagles were gifted a new rusher via the Carolina Panthers, who waived their top sack guy of the season, Charles Harris, to free up a roster spot for claimed cornerback Akayleb Evans. Before being successfully claimed off of waivers by Philly, Harris’ name immediately became a favorite among Eagles fans due to his pedigree as a former first-round pick, his experience across multiple different schemes, and his 19.5 career sacks over 99 games, which is more than most of the options available on the open market in this a post-trade deadline world.

Is Harris a magic pill who will fix the Eagles pass-rushing issues, let alone just replace BG’s production? No, probably not; Harris has a sub-60 rating across the board from PFF this season and hasn’t been an above-average player since his breakout run with the Detroit Lions back in 2021 under Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn.

Still, Harris is a 3-4 defensive end with experience rushing from a two-point stance, which can be tricky for some players who haven’t done it before, as Huff has noted this year. Use him as a pass rusher for now, hope he can learn the run defense concepts Fangio expects from his outside linebackers and know that the Eagles have at least five rushers when Huff eventually returns from IR.