New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

The New Orleans Saints have reportedly made a contract offer to star tight end Jimmy Graham, according to Pro Football Talk. They have not received a response from Graham's camp, the website said.

Graham, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, earned $1.9 million in his first three seasons and is scheduled to earn $1.323 million this season. While Graham has waited to sign a new contract, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski signed a five-year, $54 million extension last year.

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Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Pay Da Man !! The best Tight End in the NFL !

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

They will pay him. Guys like Vilma, Harper, DLP and Greer just won't be with the team in 2014. The Saints will have to continue to find good players in the draft and in UDFA's.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Too early. Period.

Alaska

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Too early. Period.

Alaska

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

As long as he's the highest paid he should take it. Waiting it out taking the hardest hits on the field is shaking hands with financial danger.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Unlessit's a really crappy offer, extending an offer this early shows good faith from the FO, since there's always the risk of injury during the season.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Maybe Brees could take a cut to help?

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Brees will fund his own future success by donating $5M a year of his salary to the Keep Jimmy Graham Foundation.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Oh, no ... huge distraction ... I think JG should get paid as much as the next fan, but the season's "on", Saints are 3-0, leading the NFC South and captain's of their own destiny ... don't blow the momentum! (or at least keep it on the downlow, IMO).

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Looks like somebody (named Jazzy Jeff Duncan) wrote a negative article about Graham's contract that contained ZERO facts and sources, that ground Duncan's same old tired axe against Payton and Loomis, and tried to make the Saints organization look bad. Which a lot of you people took at face value, and started hooping and hollering and grabbing the bars of your cages and screaming bloody murder. So NOW someone from inside the Saints organization ("multiple league sources" that Florio quotes) is quietly putting the word out there that the Saints are in FACT doing something about Graham, and that hence by implication, it's Graham's agent that is the hangup, and that Jazzy Jeff Duncan is revealed as being a chump who writes by pulling stuff out his ---hole without any facts. As opposed to when Florio files an article, where he has MULTIPLE SOURCES confirming the same thing instead of just wild speculation.

One writer is a hack, the other is an adult. Jeff Duncan is basically reduced to being Message Board Guy. It's a lot of internal politics, a lot of back and forth in the media, but it's pretty funny stuff. Florio and Katherine Terrell just made Jazzy Jeff Duncan look like a doofus.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Pay graham, he's worth it. Just like Drew is. Fill holes with

Payton and loomis could start a jewelry business with all the gems they've unearthed.

Salary cap will increase anyway

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

It is absolutely pizz poor strategy and timing to start this discussion with Jimmy inside of the season. There are more ways this could hinder his production than make it better.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

The timing is definitely questionable. However this is a business and there are sometimes risks to take.

Jimmy Graham is playing like a man who already has a ticket booked to Canton! Every week he puts up these numbers he increases his leverage. This is bad for Loomis. Every week he plays he risks a career ending injury which means he gets absolutely no money. This is bad for Graham.

It may be that this is nothing more than a carrot. Something to think about as a 'We are in this position, you are in that position, you wanna cash in early or take the risk?'. Assuming they didn't put something too stupid forward this may be something to consider.

Either way, JG ain't gonna be a poor man after this deal. As a fan I don't want to see momentum disturbed but I do understand the potential business impact of this. Also, regardless of if he waits until the end of the season and possibly has a Superbowl ring, he will be a Saint. There is no way we will let him go. No way.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Making Duncan look like a doofus isn't hard to do. He does it to himself quite well.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Duncan can go kick rocks, for slappy to tip the Saints' hand to say that they are indeed talking with Graham only feeds this bozo's ego. Come on Loomis don't feed this clown.

Graham will get his, this doesn't fit Loomis MO. He normally works deals out after the season. IMO I like it because if the price is high now, just think the asking price after he has another off the charts season stats wise

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

From a strategy perspective, I have learned that Mickey Loomis knows more about this than I do.

Jimmy's got a number, but he's also on pace to break some serious records (only three games in, I know), so while some see this as a risk, I prefer to look at it as an incentive to an already talented player

ML: "Jimmy, I'm going to write down a number and you tell me what you think of it."

*slides napkin across table*

JG: "Wow, that's a big number. But I'm doing pretty well this season, what happens if I redefine "beast mode?"

ML: "Well then Jimmy, then we change the number."

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

There is zero upside to entering into a contract negotiation after the season starts when you can not close the deal. There is zero cap space to award the contract. So you either have Jimmy trying too hard and dropping passes, or the negotiations grind to a halt and he gets upset. It is nothing but a distraction for a player.

I am well versed in the risk/reward possibilities, and you do not dangle a carrot in front of a young player wanting his first big contract when he preforming at Hall of Fame levels.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

And Will Smith.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Here are your Free Agents next year and their present Cap hit. How is Greer gone next year? He is ours till 2015. DLP is a whole 2M.. why is he gone?

Graham - 1.4M
Jenkins - 4M
Strief - 2.5M
Smith - 8.5M
Vilma - 3.8M
Quddus - 500k
Brown - 880k
Bush - 500k
Carr - 500k
Coleman - 600k
Collins - 500k
DLP - 2m
Haralson - 1.1m
Harris - 480k
Herring - 600k
Humber - 580k
Johnson - 775k
McCown - 500k
Meachem - 715k
Morgan - 500k
Richardson - 715k

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

But Oak, those are "facts" -- and we have to give the MOON to Jimmy. We have to. Everyone else on the team will have to go!!! Because, you know, Jeff Duncan wrote an article that said we should give Jimmy the MOON.

This is the Graham contract situation in a nutshell, according to some people:


Brees = eleventy billion impossible $$$ in 2014
League minimum 420,000 x 51 players = 21,420,000
Rest goes to Graham.

$122 million (cap) -$18.4 Brees - $21.4 mill for the rest of the team = $82.2 Million for Graham. And that may not be enough!!!!!! We have to give Jimmy THE MOON!!!!

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

We always seem to push negotiations to the last minute to make sure the player doesn't get hurt or forget how to play.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Bout time they get to jimmy. Not really concerned about the cap. Considering the defense is playing pretty decent, I can see vilma and smith being gone next year. And if not, they will have to resign for significantly less. Also, Harper could also be in that discussion of being cut loose although I feel the FO wants to keep him if possible.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

OR maybe it helps Jimmy concentrate more...

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Correct, It's managing liability, and getting value while you can.

If you are not worried about next years cap it is because you have not looked at next years cap. Here, let me give you reason.

We are already 122M into next years Cap Space. Now read through the list below and see all of the names not represented in that 122M. Adjusted Salary Cap this year was 125 because we had 2.7M rollover. We have nothing to roll into 2014. If it goes up it will be maybe 126M
New Orleans Saints Salary Cap - 2014 Breakdown
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/J...8291510B7.ashx


No man EVER said, "let me go to the DMV tomorrow and renew my Drivers License because it expires in 12 months".

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

It will help him concentrate... On his contract.

If you were 26 years old and held a 30M lottery ticket in your hand where would your concentration be?

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Well, Vilma and Smith won't be on next year's team. So there is your cap space for Grambeaux!

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Pay the man. Don't give him an opportunity to walk away. Drew will take a paycut next year. The rest of our big contracts: Smith, Vilma, and Harper will probably be gone. We'll be fine. I'm starting to want to keep Malcolm and Harper, but at a much cheaper price.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Getting rid of Smith and Vilma's contracts will help a lot. If they are resigned it will be for a lot less money.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

No brother... That 122M for 2014 does not include Vilma and Smith.

That 122M we have consumes next year/2014 is only 40 players and a practice squad.

Thats the reason i said read through the 2014 cap list and see all of the players not on it.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

You mean the cap does not increase to $150 million? WTF.:broccoli:

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Yes it does... When we draft Baylen.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

Or he starts murdering everyone in sight!

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

He will get his money. Our front office is not stupid.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

How many times does Loomis have to show the rest of the league how its done before everyone will take a deep breathe and relax. In Loomis I trust

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

At some point all these large back ended contracts bite youbin the backside and we are sitting on a fair few.
Pure guesswork but the plan looks shift the debt while Drew is here and the team is primed to win then blow it all up and rebuild after.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

I just hate to see stuff like this interfere with team chemistry ... you know, like how it's been pointed out that some players may have to restructure, others may not be around next season, et ... It's gotta' affect the psychy of those players and others around him when one guy is getting singled out for reward ... it is a "team" sport, we're all human and like to see our contributions recognized.

At the end of the day, everyone realizes & comes to grips with the fact that some guys do bring more value to the team, but it's probably better handled in the offseason, IMO. But I see from the thread, JG's agent is an instigator, so go figure, eh? :rolleyes:.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

I like recognizing contribution... That is why some people take pay cuts :)

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

The negotiations won't effect anything. He hasn't been all in the media asking to get more money. Everything is fine. He's the best players on the entire team outside of Brees. Pay him.

Re: New Orleans Saints make initial contract offer to tight end Jimmy Graham
 

With what? You answer that first.

I will bet we franchise him near 6M, and see what we have in 2015. Lets not forget Jimmy CANT leave.


Sounds cruel? If I were Jimmy I would hold out for the Franchise in 2014, then take my 8 year 60M contract (Gronkowski + #s).