RockyMountainSaint

Another non-story.
Saints, Graham talks going nowhere | ProFootballTalk
Through three games, Saints tight end Jimmy Graham has 358 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

But Graham still doesn’t have a new contract. Per multiple league sources, the Saints have made an offer. Graham’s camp has not yet responded.

Graham has entered the final season of his slotted rookie deal. Drafted the same year as Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, both of whom received long-term extensions, Graham is still waiting.

He may have to wait a little longer. Or a lot longer. Last year, the Saints waited as long as possible to sign quarterback Drew Brees to a multi-year deal, after he took every snap of a six-year, $60 million contract.

Brees got his deal after the Saints applied the exclusive version of the quarterback franchise tag. Graham undoubtedly will get the non-exclusive version of the tight end franchise tag, setting the stage for an inevitable fight regarding whether Graham is a tight end or a receiver.

Meanwhile, look for Graham to continue to take the high road. Though he has earned the ability not to carry the risk of serious injury, the Saints have shown that they won’t pay close to market value until the player has maximum leverage.

If Graham stays healthy, he’ll have it — especially if he prevails on the question of whether he’s a receiver for franchise tag purposes.

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thebdj

Yeah this will be a nothing topic during the year. The Saints are absolutely right to wait until the latest possible point on this one. At the end of the day it's a business and they need to be careful about what money they give to who.

I do think the receiver/tight end conversation is going to be an interesting one. I'm not entirely sure you can call Jimmy Graham an out an out TE. In many ways, he simply is one of the top WRs in the league. I just hope that the conversations are fair and amicable.

I fully expect to see a contract offer of 6 years $70 million being the minimum here. He will undoubtedly be the highest paid TE in NFL history but he won't be able to justify the full mega money packages of WRs like Fitzagerald and Megatron.

homerj07

Fuvk me. No one Jimmy or Drew is worth this type of money.

|Mitch|

And when did we start believing anything Mike Florio "reports"? We all know he just does it to stir the pot...

RockyMountainSaint

I don't agree with you here.

PFT has gotten very good in the last year or so. Florio was a lone voice for a long time in dissenting on Der Fuhrer's draconian punishments.

This is a non-story as I noted in the original post, but I like Florio.

saintsfan403

Graham's camp hasn't responded yet, he makes it sound like they're bogged down after weeks of attempts or that they're just going in circles. Way to go PFT for another f*cking awful article.

thebdj

You won't hear me arguing this one at all. I think the amount of money sports stars and film stars get is beyond ridiculous. Having said that, when it comes down to 'business', if you can put numbers together that ultimately dictate someone generates more money than you give them, then it doesn't matter what you give them.... but i'm not hear to sound off about business hahaha

Regardless of what we think, he is getting at least that sort of money so he may as well get it here in New Orleans!

PS - This article is horrible by the way. Really horrible. Pick a player doing really well. Recognise he is still in his rookie deal. Stir it up. Yawn.

AsylumGuido

I agree completely. Florio has been MORE than fair with the Saints and was by far our biggest supporter last year.

AsylumGuido

The money that film stars and sports stars get is tiny when compared to corporate heads. They regularly receive five times more than the highest paid entertainer while they pay their underlings a hundred times less.

I have never had ANY issue with how much any athlete gets paid. Not one iota.

Utah_Saint

I seem to remember Florio being one of the first reporters to ask the commish for proof. He did an article saying just claiming to have proof isn't enough. At the time, he was one of the very few that bucked the company (NFL) line.

But I do agree that this story is just a filler piece, trying to create a story where there isn't one. Just a few weeks ago, Jimmy said it didn't bother him.