The Jimmy Graham contract saga continues as the New Orleans Saints tight end has his grievance hearing regarding his franchise tag and free agent status and if things don't work out the way he wants, a trade could be possible with the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, NY Jets or Oakland Raiders, as they have the cap space to make a move and while that is very unlikely to happen, the uncertainty regarding his contract has left Graham in slight limbo.
The Saints wanted to use the franchise tag on Graham this offseason and now he is having a reliance to see whether he should be tagged as a WR or a TE. The difference is substantial, as being tagged as a tight end would cost the Saints $7.035 million compared to $12.3 million as a WR, according to ESPN and that would give Graham leverage if he had a higher salary to negotiate a long term deal from.
A column in the local New Orleans Times-Picayune brought up the idea of trading Graham and while they wrote that the team should not head down that road, it mentioned that if the contract demands get too out of hand, it might be the only move the Saints can make. The report mentions Drew Brees and all that happened during his long contract negotiations before camp a couple years ago and he ended up signing for five years and $100 million. Graham obviously won't be getting a deal like that, but having Brees on a massive deal and Graham on a massive deal as well could hamper the team in the future, especially with the Jairus Byrd signing from this offseason.
While obviously the Saints are likely not trading Graham and will do whatever they can to keep him, the move remains a possibility if both sides dig in deep enough and don't want to meet somewhere in the middle. The league is watching closely and so are other tight ends in the NFL, as the wide open passing is changing how the position is used.
Graham is a very interesting case and this is a big deal for the NFL, as it could reshape what happens with players and contracts in the future when it comes to franchise tags. Graham has plenty of evidence that shows he is treated like a receiver, but no matter what happens they will receive pushback because he obviously is a tight end. The Saints run an offense that uses Graham like a wide receiver and he has put up numbers that are equal to or are much better than most receivers in the league.
Last season the Saints ranked second in the league in passing yards per game and Brees once again had over 5,000 yards and one of the main reasons for all of that was the play of Graham. The tight end led the team with 86 catches for 1,215 yards and a league leading 16 touchdowns and those numbers were better than most WRs in the league, including on the Saints, who had Marques Colston as the second leading receiver with 75 catches for 943 yards.
