Re: Loomis: No deadline for Graham deal
 

For someone who was a little thuggish as a boy he's handling this really well.

Re: Loomis: No deadline for Graham deal
 

3 years? Whats that mean? Will the NFL reimburse him? Will they force the Saints to reimburse him? Will it disqualify our wins because we were technically over the cap?

Re: Loomis: No deadline for Graham deal
 

I have no idea. Florio (hate that guy) thinks that this qualifies as "system problem"

" For injury grievances, the player has 25 days from termination of his contract. For non-injury grievances, the player has fifty days. For system arbitrations, the player has a whopping three years"

"Certain specific provisions of the CBA fall under system arbitration. One of them is Article 10, which sets forth the rules regarding the franchise tag. Thus, if/when a player disagrees with the specific type of franchise tag applied to him, he has not 50 days but a whopping three years to do something about it"

This just can't be right. Way too many potential problems.

Re: Loomis: No deadline for Graham deal
 

So he's speculating that JG has 3 years?

Re: Loomis: No deadline for Graham deal
 

In the strict language of the CBA the time frame for filing a grievance for "system arbitration" is 3 years which is what a Tag grievance is with literal interpretation. <-- Flourio is correct on this portion.

As outlined
Page 113 Atricle 15, Section 2 Scope of Authority, Sub (f) Statute of limitations.
Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, a three year statute of limitations shall apply to the initiation of proceedings before the System Arbitrator, which statute begins to apply on the date upon which the facts giving rise to the proceeding are known or reasonably should have been known to the party bringing the proceeding.

He missed the part that is bold about "Unless otherwise specified".

On page 49 of the CBA (c) under the Franchise and transition players section, it states
"Any dispute concerning the identity and Salaries of players included within each player position category, or any other matter regarding these figures, shall be submitted to and resolved by the Impartial Arbitrator during the period from February 1 to February 15, or within twenty-five days after the last day of the Restricted Free Agent Signing Period, respectively. The Impartial Arbitrator shall make an independent deter-mination in writing. In arriving at his determination, the Impartial Arbitrator shall consider any relevant information furnished to him, and shall be provided access to all relevant Player Contracts. The Impartial Arbitrator’s determination shall be final and binding upon all parties."

Restricted Free Agency ends 2nd of May 2014, so add 25 days to that and the 27th of may is the last day Jimmy Graham can file a grievance.

In Flourios scenario which is incorrect he epically fails to point out, or intentionally omits to have something to write about, is that the only way Jimmy graham can exercise that 3 year window is to sign nothing and stay home for 3 years.

Once Jimmy Graham signs that 7m Franchise Tag contract he is agreeing with its terms and conditions and there is nothing left to file a grievance over.


On a different note.. See the bold part about "concerning identity within each category", the categories are clearly defined by the CBA also. On page 48 the categories are defined: "Prior Year Salaries of players at the positions of Fran-chise Players and Transition Players: Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Tight End, Offensive Line, Defensive End, Interior Defensive Line, Linebacker, Cornerback, Safety, and Kicker/Punter. Notice there is no category titled "slot receiver"?

Now go to PFF and in the Signature Stats for Tight Ends you can view "Slot Performance". (paid stats)

Jimmy Graham:
Ran 538 routes total
134 targets as a Tight End
268 routes run as a Slot Tight End
67 targets as a "Slot Tight End" (And yes they do identify it as "Targets as a SLOT TIGHT END".
Slot % 49.8

Read this with me: Slot performance is a category for both Tight Ends AND Wide Receivers. Lining up in the slot is not solely specific to Wide Receivers If you go to Wide Receivers there is also "Slot performance" Colston 56.1% and Lance Moore 51.8%

Jimmy Graham is a Tight End

Both Colston and Moore have a higher percentage lined up in the slot than Graham.

All the hubbub about where Jimmy Graham is because talking heads are combining "Slot tight end" line ups with "Wide Receiver" line ups.

Need More? Slot Performance is both TE and WR.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/abo...lotPerformance