Brandon Graham has already strip-sacked the greatest quarterback of all time in a Super Bowl. What to do for an encore?

Call 27-year-old Patrick Mahomes the GOAT, too, and try to make it a double.

The veteran defensive end helped the Philadelphia Eagles lock up their first Super Bowl victory five years ago with a strip sack of Tom Brady late in the 41-33 win over the New England Patriots. This Sunday, against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, Graham and the NFL’s top defense is tasked with figuring out the next generation’s exemplar quarterback, Mahomes.

“Man, getting a strip sack on him too, that’d be nice,” Graham told reporters Thursday. “But we’re going to have some fun, man. He’s definitely the GOAT because he’s already won one and you can see he’s been here a lot of times already. And he’s young.”

Head coach Nick Sirianni wasn’t keen on spelling out how his team’s defense is strategizing for Mahomes, whether it will feature an increase in blitzing or focus on keeping the ball out of his hands.

It was pointed out to Sirianni at Thursday’s press conference that in Mahomes’ three career playoff losses, his Chiefs have lost the turnover battle twice and had less time of possession than their opponent in all three defeats.

Sirianni said when he was the Indianapolis Colts’ offensive coordinator and faced Mahomes’ Chiefs in 2019, it became “a little bit of a keep-away game.” That day, the Colts ran the ball 45 times, had possession for 37:15 and handed Kansas City its first loss of the young season, 19-13.

“So we have that in our pocket. We also think it’s important to score points. Obviously I won’t give too much of the game plan away of what we’re trying to do. But we also understand how dangerous Patrick Mahomes is and how good of a football player he is.

“Sometimes when you do play a keep-away battle, per se, you still gotta be good and efficient on third down. You still gotta be good and efficient to extend drives.”

Sirianni’s Eagles have been able to run the ball at will, led by dual-threat quarterback Jalen Hurts and a deep backfield that features Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon put the keys to the matchup simply.

“Not have the ball thrown over our heads and take it away,” he told the Eagles’ team website.

Gannon touted his unit’s adaptability as a foil to the Chiefs’ creativity on offense.

“Every game you turn on, (Reid is) doing something new. We’ve got to be prepared for all of that,” Gannon said. “One of our staples is adaptability. We know that we’re going to have to adapt in game and we’ve got to be ready to make adjustments in game, in real time, and ultimately execute the plan and those adjustments to have a chance.”

But the ultimate strength of the Eagles’ defense is its pass rush, which finished with 70 sacks in the regular season, the third-highest total in NFL history.

“I don’t think you go into this game thinking you are going to get clear paths to the quarterback,” said Haason Reddick, who had 16 sacks in the regular season and 3.5 in the Eagles’ first two playoff games. “They’re going to have something built-in to account for what we do, so it comes down to winning one-on-one battles, or whatever it’s going to be, in this game. You also know that Mahomes isn’t a guy who is going to go down easily. He can buy time with his legs. He can move, even with that ankle (Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain against Jacksonville in the AFC Divisional round).

“It’s a challenge and, as you know, I love challenges.”

–Field Level Media

Quarterback Derek Carr concluded a second day meeting at the New Orleans Saints’ headquarters on Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Carr remains under contract with Las Vegas, but the Raiders benched Carr toward the end of the 2022 regular season and are widely expected to move on from the veteran by either trade or release.

Carr holds a full no-trade clause and said he will not extend the Feb. 15 deadline for when his scheduled $40.4 million in guaranteed money kicks in. If the Raiders do not find a trade partner, they’re expected to release him before the deadline.

New Orleans is the first team Carr has met with, and there’s a strong connection between Carr and Saints head coach Dennis Allen. Carr was a second-round draft pick in 2014 when Allen coached the then-Oakland Raiders. Allen made Carr the starting quarterback but was fired after an 0-4 start.

That was the start of a fruitful run for Carr with the Raiders. He made four Pro Bowls, most recently in 2022, and set major franchise passing records. But the team only made the playoffs twice in Carr’s nine-year stay and never won a playoff game.

The Saints are coming off a 7-10 season in their first year under Allen, who succeeded Sean Payton as coach. Aging veteran Andy Dalton spent most of the season as the starting quarterback after an injury-prone Jameis Winston was relegated to the backup.

Carr’s wife, Heather, was with him on the trip, according to Fox 8. The Saints’ contingent included Allen and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, according to NewOrleansFootball.com.

If the Saints don’t acquire Carr via trade, they could still sign him as a free agent. However, Carr would also then be free to sign with any team.

–Field Level Media

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank stopped short of saying Desmond Ridder will be the team’s starting quarterback next season, but does believe the team has an exciting young talent at the position.

Ridder took over the starting job in Week 15 and threw for 708 yards and a pair of touchdowns while leading the Falcons to a 2-2 finish.

“We’re very excited about Desmond Ridder,” Blank told reporters on Wednesday in his first public comments since the end of the season. “I think from the time he came into training camp, he showed great capabilities as a leader amongst the rookies and then amongst the vets.”

Ridder was drafted in the third round out of Cincinnati and spent most of the season behind veteran Marcus Mariota. After taking over the reins of the offense, Ridder did not throw an interception while completing 63.5 percent of his passes.

Blank pointed out the progress Ridder showed, culminating in a season-ending win over Tampa Bay in which he completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His passer rating improved in each of his four starts, concluding with a 108.2 mark against the Buccaneers.

Mariota is not expected to return and the only other quarterback currently on the roster is late-season signee Logan Woodside. The Falcons currently hold the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and while they will certainly add competition for Ridder at some point this offseason, Blank didn’t sound inclined to pursue a high-priced veteran option.

“As good as a quarterback may be, and they’re certainly a big part of a winning formula, they can’t play by themselves,” Blank said. “There’s 21 other (starters) that need to play as well so we’re committed to the position obviously and we know we need to think about it and I think we have it in Ridder.”

After swallowing $63 million in dead cap space last season after parting with Matt Ryan, the 23-year-old Ridder still has three years remaining on his rookie contract. Whether it’s Ridder or another incoming rookie at the helm, the ability to build around a rookie contract at quarterback is certainly appealing.

“When you have that opportunity, that’s the perfect set of circumstances,” Blank said. “The perfect storm, if you will, in a positive way, not a negative way. When you have a quarterback who you draft and have for four or five years, that’s a really big deal.”

“In the history of the Super Bowl, there hasn’t been one quarterback that represented 20 percent or more of the roster compensation.”

The Falcons are coming off their fifth consecutive losing season, and Blank admitted he’s looking for improvement heading into the third year with coach Arthur Smith. Along with Ridder, fourth-round running back Tyler Allgeier set the franchise rookie rushing record with 1,023 yards.

First-round wide receiver Drake London led the team with 72 catches — a franchise rookie record — for 866 yards, and the team received strong contributions from second-round linebackers Troy Andersen and Arnold Ebiketie and third-round linebacker DeAngelo Malone.

“We have a lot of young players that have developed at a very nice level and really have their best capabilities going forward, so I feel good about where we are,” Blank said. “And I think we have every reason as a fan and an owner to feel better about our team than we have in the last couple of years.”

–Field Level Media

Willis McGahee is one of 10 former NFL players suing the league, its board of trustees and commissioner Roger Goodell in federal court over its benefits plan, accusing them Thursday of a number of “unscrupulous tactics” to wrongfully avoid paying out disability claims.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in Baltimore in the U.S. District Court of Maryland and lays out what’s described as an “overly aggressive and disturbing pattern” of denying benefits for specious, subjective reasons, making it far more difficult for retired players to receive health care they need after playing in the NFL.

McGahee, a two-time Pro Bowl running back who played for the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns in his 10-year NFL career, is now 41 but told reporters in a virtual news conference that his physician said his arthritis comparable to an 80-year-old.

McGahee said he tried for six years to receive disability payments from the NFL and was denied last year.

“It’s time for me to step up, it’s time for other players to step up and say something,” McGahee told reporters. “We are not just going to sit back and just let it all fall down on us and take the beating.”

The other plaintiffs are Jason Alford, Daniel Loper, Michael McKenzie, Jamize Olawale, Alex Parsons, Charles Sims, Eric Smith, Joey Thomas and Lance Zeno.

Smith played seven seasons as a defensive back for the New York Jets and said in the lawsuit that he had 13 documented traumatic brain injuries in that time.

Smith shared Thursday that he has blacked out and woken up bleeding with “holes in the wall.”

“My wife and kids are crying,” he said. “I went down a dark path.”

The lawsuit is notable at the end of a season that saw Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffer multiple documented concussions — including one just days after he was cleared too soon from the league’s concussion protocol — and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffer cardiac arrest on the field of a game that was eventually abandoned.

One of the lawyers representing the players is Christopher Seeger, who in 2012 worked on the class-action lawsuit in which ex-players accused the NFL of not sufficiently protecting them from concussions and their related dangers. That case has been settled and has paid out more than $1 billion to affected retirees.

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told Reuters in a statement that the disability plan in question has provided more than $330 million to eligible players, and that their standards were developed via consultation with experts in occupational, mental and physical health.

“The NFL-NFLPA disability plan is fair and administered by a professional staff overseen by a board comprised of an equal number of appointees of the NFL Players Association and the league, which includes retired players,” McCarthy wrote.

“This board reviews the activities of the office and operation of the benefit program, including every contested application for benefits, to ensure that retired players who are entitled to disability benefits receive them as intended.”

–Field Level Media

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said doctors could switch to a more complex procedure when he undergoes elbow surgery later this month.

Purdy is scheduled to have his torn UCL repaired on Feb. 22 in Dallas, with the hope that he will return by training camp. The surgery is reportedly set to be performed by Texas Rangers head team physician and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister.

Purdy said Thursday that Meister could opt for a “hybrid surgery” that would involve both a reconstruction as well as the internal brace.

“Yeah, that’s Dr. Meister’s call,” Purdy told KNBR radio in San Francisco. “He’s done this year after year with the best of the best with MLB pitchers. So he’s definitely seen this kind of thing happen, and he’s going to make the best call, and not just for the heck of it.

“It’s obviously for the best call for my career moving forward. And he knows what’s best, and he’s going to make the best decision for us, so it’ll be good.”

Should Purdy undergo a more complex surgery, the sixth-month timeline for his return could be extended.

Purdy, 23, suffered a complete UCL tear in his throwing elbow during the NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 29. He was injured on the 49ers’ sixth play from scrimmage on a blow from Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick.

Purdy later had to re-enter the game after backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion. Purdy only attempted two short passes after returning.

He later told reporters his arm felt “shocks all over from my elbow down to my wrist” and “just pain” when he threw, limiting him to nothing more than 5-yard tosses.

Purdy threw for 1,374 yards, 13 touchdowns and four interceptions in the regular season and went for 332 yards and three TDs in a wild-card win over the Seattle Seahawks. He added 214 yards passing when the Niners edged the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 in the divisional round.

The 2023 quarterback room is expected to belong to Purdy and Trey Lance, with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan announcing last week there was no “scenario” for the return of free agent Jimmy Garoppolo next season.

49ers tight end George Kittle said that while Lance still has “plenty of talent,” he considers the job Purdy’s to lose.

“Trey Lance is still there, and Trey, unfortunately, has not really gotten a fair shot of being an NFL quarterback yet,” Kittle said on the ‘Von Miller Cast’ at Radio Row at the Super Bowl on Thursday. “You got a full rain-game monsoon versus the Bears and he got hurt in his second game,” Kittle said. “You know, Trey’s still got plenty of talent. He just needs to get out there and play.”

“But, you can’t talk about what Brock Purdy did. He’s fantastic. Our offense was operating at the highest it’s probably been since 2019. So, in my opinion, it’s Brock’s job to lose. But, there will be competition since Brock will be out till training camp with his surgery, so it’s going to be interesting.

“But, when you find a guy like that (who) can seamlessly jump in, I think it’s his job to lose.”

–Field Level Media