Eagles claim earlier 1st round pick after injury to Brandon Graham

On November 27, 2024By Littum

Eagles claim earlier 1st round pick after injury to Brandon Graham originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles claimed veteran Charles Harris on Tuesday to bolster the edge rusher position after losing Brandon Graham and Bryce Huff to injuries, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Harris, 29, was a first-round pick back in 2017 and was recently released by the Carolina Panthers. News of the Eagles’ claim was first reported by Zach Berman of PHLY.

The Eagles only lost Huff last week when he had wrist surgery. While Huff is expected to return after a stint on IR, Graham is done for the season. The Eagles’ longest tenured player suffered a season-ending torn triceps Sunday night.

After those two injuries, they had just three healthy edge rushers on their 53-man roster: Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. Even with a few options on the practice squad, it made sense to add another player. And Harris is a veteran who can contribute to the rotation right away.

Harris is in his eighth NFL season and has played for the Dolphins, Falcons, Lions and Panthers. In 99 career games (36 starts), Harris has 19 1/2 sacks, 192 combined tackles and 60 quarterback hits.

This season with the Panthers, Harris played in 9 games and started 6. He had 3 sacks, 21 tackles, 4 TFLs and 7 QB hits. He’s actually tied for the Panthers’ team-high in sacks with 3 and played 66% of their defensive snaps this season. But apparently Harris was viewed as a rotational pass rusher with a weakness against the run and who wasn’t a factor on special teams.

The Panthers released Harris on Monday after claiming former Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans.

You may remember Harris from the 2017 draft because he was the next defensive end off the board after the Eagles took Derek Barnett. Barnett went 14th overall and Harris went 22nd to the Dolphins.