WhoDat!656

New Orleans Saints star tight end Jimmy Graham is entering the last year of his rookie contract and as a result of his great play, he is extremely underpaid at $1.3 million. The Saints obviously want to keep their young star and when it comes time to give him a new contract, and Graham could be looking for a contract that would make him the highest paid tight end in the NFL.

As of right now, the highest paid tight end in the NFL is Dallas Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten, with a salary worth about $7.4 million a year. If the Saints were to franchise tag Graham, he could make about $6 million with the tag, but it is rumored that Graham has his eyes set a little higher than that.

Specifically, Graham could be looking for a new deal that would pay him around $10-$12 million a year. With a deal like that, he would certainly be the highest paid tight end in the NFL, but the question would remain, is he worth it?

Graham is absolutely worth the money because he is one of the best tight ends in the NFL. Furthermore, Graham plays more of a wide receiver role with the Saints as he often lines up in the slot. The franchise number for a wide receiver is about $10 million, so it would make sense for Graham to be seeking that amount of money give his role in the Saints’ offense.

However, there is no time frame for Graham’s deal to get done and if the Saints want to keep him, they will have to do it before the next off-season, when Graham becomes an unrestricted free agent.

The Saints will likely have to work something out during the 2013 season for Graham’s new contract. With the Saints current salary cap situation, his deal will have to wait, but when it is all said and done, Graham could very well be the highest paid tight end.

Alejandro Aviles is the Featured Writer for the New Orleans Saints at Rant Sports @aaviles312

NFL Rumors: Jimmy Graham To Be The Highest Paid Tight End?

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

dizzle88

He'd have to go to a team like the browns or chiefs to accomplish that but good luck

Complete rumour at the minute, whilst he's with us he will not be given the highest salary for a TE

lee909

Offer him a new deal if he doesn't accept trade him.We can't afford to loose him got nothing.

Rugby Saint II

I totally agree with you. His YAC is not great and he drops a lot of passes. He's really good but not great.
I guess it's out of the question to ask him to restructure.

hagan714

so far one season of production does not give him the right to clam that. top 5 ok. top dollar? lets see what 2013 brings.

Danno

Well said.

Top 5? Yep.

Top TE in the entire NFL? Nope.

SmashMouth

He needs quite a few less drops and more YAC for that.

Kryptonite

I agree. Not hating on Graham at all, and would not trade him for any other TE in the league...ANY! But even my wife pointed that out last year. That he still isn't tough enough yet. He goes to his knees as soon as he catches the ball. There at times that he could break the play for big, big yardage but he instinctively goes right down to his knees. YACs would very much help his stock IMHO.

It looks like he hit the weights in last off-season and came in more muscular than the year before, but his toughness wasn't the same. Yes, i know he was nursing an injury for the most part, but I still think there could have been more toughness shown.

papz

I'm guessing the person who wrote this article's source is Jason Cole of yahoo... who was just speculating.

TheOak

We don't look at this until the end of the 2013 season.