Why not hold him accountable and play for the contract that he signed? Giving in to these types of players, and I'm not saying Graham is one or is going to be one, is what breeds the Prima Donna players to begin with. Yoiu wouldn't have these types of concerns if everyone played and followed the terms of the contracts they sign.

Another thing too, No one should get signed to an extension until Brees does.

You think too black and white on contract issues. He signed a contract with 1 year of football under his belt in college. No one, probably not even himself, envisioned how successful he would be in the NFL.

He his putting out a lot of effort, and is becoming one of the top tier talents in the NFL, but is not getting paid like one. Not paying him when he deserves it, even if we don't HAVE to, doesn't make it the right thing to do. You don't treat someone that way and expect to garner loyalty and respect from them.

After his 4 years are up, he could simply be of the opinion "Well, you could have done right by me and paid me what I deserved, but you didn't. Your loyalty was to the contract and not to me as a person. Now I give you back the same. My loyalty is to my contract, and not the organization. Oh, look, I don't have a contract anymore, so now you can take your team and shove it. I don't care what you are offering, I'm going somewhere else. Bye."

What would really prevent these situations isn't everyone adhering to a contract, whether it gives a fair value or not. What would prevent these situations is if all contracts were based on performance.

Well sorry, but that is not exactly the way the world works. You don't just suddenly throw a lot of money at someone just because they recently had 8 or 9 good games. That's basically what the Eagles front office did with Vick and assembling their "dream team," and how'd that work out for them? Do you want OUR front office to be more like THEM?

Graham's contract is based on what the front office was willing to pay him, and what HE was willing to accept. If he didn't know he was going to be this good, then he must be kinda dumb, for under-estimating himself so badly and taking so little. If you think it's too low, his current contract is on HIM for taking it, as much as it is on the Saints. Coddling players and throwing money around is NOT the way this team operates.

I also disagree with you, when you said that "no one envisioned how good he would be in the NFL." WHO DO YOU THINK SIGNED HIM? The Saints, that's who! Do you think it was an accident they signed him, when he'd only played 1 year of football? No, they very clearly saw in him the potential for what we're seeing now. Drew saw it too, and kept feeding him the ball and mentoring him.

But I still don't get, WHAT exactly is making you think Graham is unhappy here, or frustrated with his contract? You're projecting all this stuff into his head, with no evidence at all. He did go to "the U," that's true -- but there are some NFL players out there who went to "the U" who aren't total head cases or money divas. That Jonathan Vilma, such a big baby, always acting up and crying about his contract!

Graham is fine, he is NOT going anywhere anytime soon. Relax and enjoy him!

"What would really prevent these situations isn't everyone adhering to a contract, whether it gives a fair value or not. What would prevent these situations is if all contracts were based on performance."

Well I've seen performance bonuses put in contracts before. That is nothing new. He could have or may have done so.

I'm the one who's always saying these guys make too damn much money - but I only say that when I see one holding out.

Still, there are times when holding out is appropriate in my opinion. We signed Jimmy as an unknown commodity. We didn't know what he was, and hell, from a professional standpoint, neither did he.

It's safe to say at this point that he is going to out perform that contract considerably relative to what an elite TE is making in the NFL, and he isn't yet, but he's damn close to becoming elite.

In this kind of situation, the player, in my opinion, has every right to renegotiate, but the rules are fluid in such situations. Hell, there aren't any rules...so whadda ya do?

All I can say is that if Jimmy were to ask to renegotiate at the end of this year or next I doubt I'd be on his case about it.

Let me guess... He wants to be the highest paid TE in the league?

EGO is ruining players, interpersonal player-team relations, franchises and eventually will ruin the league.

Alaska

To be fair I don't think he's saying that at all. We're just speculating...I think...

Yes.. this is B&G gossip ...lol

I'm sure when the time comes he will be taken care of but for now he needs to continue to improve. He has too many easy drops and doesn't always finish his routes. He needs to be on the same page as Drew especially if he is the hot read on a blitz.