Eagles 3-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks retires: ‘I will always bleed green’

Brandon Brooks announced that he is retiring at 32 after six years with the Eagles and 10 years in the NFL.

The three-time Pro Bowl guard and Super Bowl champion made the announcement in a video news conference with local reporters Wednesday. He thanked the Eagles organization and said the decision came down to health. Brooks has suffered season-ending injuries every year since 2017 and has appeared in just two games since the 2020 season.

“After all these injuries, I just realize that, at what point do you listen to your body?” Brooks said. “I think my body was telling me that I had to make a decision. I think at this point in time, it was the right decision.”

Brooks, the team’s starting right guard since 2016, was one of the best offensive linemen in the league for a stretch and had a career year after a remarkably quick recovery from his first ruptured Achilles in 2019. He played in all 16 games that season and was named to the Pro Bowl, and Pro Football Focus ranked him as the best lineman in the league. Over a four-season stretch from 2016-19, Brooks allowed just four sacks and 12 quarterback hits, according to PFF.

“I was extremely fortunate to help bring a championship to this city,” Brooks said. “To have multiple Pro Bowl appearances, but none greater than having the honor of being an Eagle and putting on the midnight green. ... I may no longer play, but I’ll be an Eagle forever and will always bleed green.”

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He was drafted out of Miami (Ohio) by the Houston Texansin the third round of the 2012 draft and spent his first four years in Houston before signing with the Eagles in free agency in 2016. All three of his Pro Bowl selections (2017-19) came with the Eagles, as he and right tackle Lane Johnson became arguably the best offensive-line tandem in the NFL.

Brooks credited his progress with the Eagles to several people, including offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, Johnson, center Jason Kelce, and former Eagles left tackle Jason Peters. Brooks and Stoutland developed a strong bond, partially because of the way the coach responded to Brooks publicly dealing with an anxiety disorder in 2016.

During his prepared statement to start the news conference, Brooks gave shout-outs to numerous players and coaches he was grateful for. He saved Stoutland for last and got emotional midway through thanking the coach.

“I feel like it’s rare to have a coach that is as impactful on the field as off,” Brooks said. “You took me from being a good player to being the best at my position. Even while I was there, you pushed me continuously to strive for more, because hungry dogs run faster and always will. Just as you helped me on the field, you helped me off. Through all my struggles and low moments, I could always count on a phone call from you. ... You are more than a coach and have been for a while. You are family and always will be.”

During the 2019 season, Brooks signed a four-year extension worth up to $56.2 million, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL at the time. According to an NFL Network report, the Eagles restructured Brooks’ deal to ease the salary cap ramifications of his retirement.

If the team places him on the reserve/retired list after June 1, he’ll count for about $6 million against the cap next season and $9.8 million in 2023, according to overthecap.com. After the restructuring, the Eagles are projected to be $24 million under the salary cap.

Brooks suffered ruptures to both of his Achilles tendons, a shoulder injury that required surgery, and a pectoral injury that ended his 2021 season. The pectoral injury wasn’t described as season-ending when he suffered it in Week 2, but he wasn’t able to return.

“I think you realize at a certain age that your body’s not necessarily recovering like it used to,” Brooks said. “It took a little longer than I would have liked. In the end, I didn’t have enough time to get where I needed to be to be able to at least get a couple of practices under my belt.

“It was unfortunate, really the last two years, how things ended,” he added. “But for me, it was a lot more about the journey. You can’t have joy without sadness, right? The first four years [with the Eagles], I wouldn’t trade for the world, even if I had to weather these last two.”

Brooks also missed two games and left another early due to an anxiety disorder that caused him to experience severe nausea and vomiting before games. He addressed that condition publicly and helped advance the conversation about mental health and wellness for athletes at the time.

Brooks said Wednesday he hopes the openness with which he handled his condition, and the people he’s helped as a result, will be remembered.

“It has always been a part of me, it will always be a part of me, and it will always be something that I deal with,” Brooks said. “I just want to be known as a person who was transparent, a person who just wanted to really just help others by sharing my story. It’ll always be a part of my story, I just try to be truthful and transparent about it.”

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie released a statement via the team’s social media account after Brooks’ retirement, thanking him for his contributions to the team’s success, and also noting his outspokenness about mental health.

“Beyond his on-field accomplishments, I am most proud of the way Brandon represents our organization with exemplary class,” the statement read. “He is one of the most thoughtful and bravest athletes I have ever been around. Brandon’s willingness to openly discuss his own struggles with anxiety has served as an inspiration to so many and helped open the door for future conversations among athletes and role models everywhere. His impact in that area is immeasurable.”

In an interview with team officials, Stoutland said Brooks’ ability to come back, either from anxiety or injuries, is what will stand out most when asked about his memories of Brooks.

“I could say the dominant double team blocks he and Lane Johnson demonstrated time and time again,” he said. “Or the dominant jump sets in protection, but really, the way he has been able to overcome adversity. He has been dealt adversity time and time again. From anxiety to injuries… it can break a person. But it didn’t break him, it made him stronger. It’s a lesson to everyone in that room, that building, the city.

Brooks’ retirement leaves the Eagles with a slight question mark along the interior line. Landon Dickerson took over at right guard once Brooks was injured, but eventually moved to the left side when Isaac Seumalo suffered a season-ending foot injury. Jack Driscoll played eight games at right guard before he had a season-ending injury of his own, giving way to Nate Herbig and eventually Sua Opeta when Herbig missed time.

Kelce hasn’t announced his plans for next season and has considered retirement each of the last few offseasons, but the Eagles figure to have two starting guards in Seumalo and Dickerson for the start of next season. If Kelce retires, either Dickerson or Seumalo could move to center.

Brooks said he believes the line will flourish without him, though.

“The room is in great hands moving forward,” he said. “I just think, at this time, it’s best to step aside and let them do their thing.”