Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

It's not loopholes. The signing bonus is pro-rated over the term of the contract. For instance, a $24 million signing bonus over a 6-year contract comes out to $4 million per year. To that is added each year's salary, plus any incentives, to come up with that season's cap hit. For instance, in Graham's case (we don't know any actual numbers yet except for the $7.053 million franchise tag for this season, which counts against the Saints' salary cap). So if Graham get $24 million in signing bonus, and a $2 million dollar salary for 2014, that adds up to $6 million against the cap for 2014 (if no incentives). In that case, the Saints would gain $1.053 million in this season's cap (the difference between the $7.053 million franchise tag and the $6 million pro-rated bonus + 2014 salary.

The signing bonus portion is guaranteed. If that player were to be waived before the end of the contract, the remaining portion of the pro-rated signing bonus would count against the salary cap... which is then "dead money." In some cases the cap hit can be spread over two seasons (I don't know the exact details of how this is done). Perhaps someone can post to this subject.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

If a player is cut, all guaranteed money (remaining pro-rated portion of signing bonus and any other salaries that were guaranteed) counts against that year's cap. However, a player can be designated a June 1 cut which means that the cap hit is spread over the current year and the following year, however the savings cannot be used until after June 1.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

So in other words, in Loomis I trust.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

I could see Loomis making him play for the "Tag Money" only this season. With the ruling going against all TE( which is what happened) they might look at the position like they do the RB position, not as glamorous as it use to be and drop the money. The Saints control his butt now. Love it.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Loomis isn't that stupid. A long term would be far more advantageous for the Saints. It would greatly lower his cap hit.

A question for you ... why do you hate Graham so much? You would be hard pressed to find a classier individual on the Saints roster (outside of Drew Brees, of course).

:confused:

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Davis: Bucs drafted Barron specifically because of Graham | ProFootballTalk

Apparently one of the Graham camps arguments is that the Bucs drafted Mark Barron to cover Graham. LOL. What a terrible argument. If anything that only further confirms that he is a tight end. Would you draft a safety to cover Calvin Johnson or Brandon Marshall?

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Is buisness but to your question about Graham. I don't see heart. God given talent but no heart. I shouldn't mention alligator arms and no (none) blocking skills which overall take away plays on the field (limited) but all of those have been beat to death and could die at any time kind of like (he said, she said). Put a TE in this O that is well rounded and does it all we would be unstopable at least one with a heart.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

I'm not even sure where to start here. All of the above is predicated on the (I believe flawed) premise that the Saints do not want JG as their tight end. If that's the case, then the organization has royally screwed the pooch. The best value the Saints could have gotten for Graham (again on the presumption that they didn't want him) would have been to trade Graham while he was still under contract before the tag was applied. They would get the maximum value for the least cost to the organization.

Well that didn't happen. It's pretty clear the objective is a long term deal. The tag is a mechanism to create the time and space necessary to get the deal done. It's designed to put pressure on both sides to get out from under it.

I'm still not sure why some folks see this arbitration as bloodsport. All it's even seemed to be was a procedural move by two sides (the NFL and NFLPA by the way) seeking to gain a financial advantage for their side. I sorely doubt that either JG or the Saints perceive each other as the scum of the Earth for defending a position in arbitration.

The Saints do not control him. In their current position they will have to pay $7 million or $15 million for 1/2 years, all on the current cap, then lose the player in free agency for no compensation. Don't believe the hype that teams want to franchise players. It stresses their salary caps and creates situations where they can lose top players for nothing in return. It is not a good position to be in. Ask Buffalo about that with Byrd. They paid him $6.9 million last year and now he's gone with the Bills getting nothing but a hole in their pocket. And Byrd was absolutely correct not to take the long term deal precisely because another team was willing to give him what he is worth. $26+ million in almost guaranteed money in the first two years. That's more than double what he would have made under the tag.

Like it or not Jimmy Graham is worth at least $11million/yr on the open market. He's certainly worth more than the $9 million/yr that Gronk is being paid and more valuable than Dwayne Bowe, who is earning $11 million average on his current contract.

In addition JG has proved to be valuable to the Saints organization over the last 3 years.

Given all of this, forcing JG to play under a $7 million tag then letting him go is the opposite of smart. Fortunately Mickey Loomis has proven over the years that he is definitely not the opposite of smart.

SFIAH

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Jimmy's played hurt two seasons in a row now, so i don't know why you'd say he has no heart.

As far as "alligator arms", he's scored more touchdowns than anyone in the league over the last 3 seasons. Is it just the style of how he catches the ball? if not how much more did you want him to do?

That Graham has "no (none) blocking skills" is an extreme exaggeration, he's not the best blocking TE but he's certainly not the worst.

So it's not a "he said, she said", PFF rates TEs on their ability to block.

Last season Jimmy Graham rated higher in run blocking than....

Jermichael Finley
Brandon Myers
Jim Dray
Coby Fleener
Dallas Clark
Charles Clay
Jordan Cameron
Timothy Wright
Jermaine Gresham
Antonio Gates
Tony Gonzalez
Julius Thomas
and
Ed Dickson.

Last season Jimmy Graham rated higher in pass blocking than...

Heath Miller
Brandon Myers
Brent Celek
Delanie Walker
Jordan Cameron
Ben Watson
Joseph Fauria
Sean McGrath
Kellen Winslow
Owen Daniels
Jermichael Finley
Tony Gonzalez
Zach Miller
Greg Olson
Scott Chandler
Logan Paulsen
Martellus Bennett
Jim Dray
and
Jeff Cumberland

And that's after the Saints faced 6 or 7 of the top front 7s in the league.

The season before, Jimmy Graham graded out positively in both run (27th of 62) and pass (25th of 62) blocking.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

The problem with Jimmy Graham and blocking is this: if the Saints are in position where they need yardage to keep the ball (3rd down whether long or short yardage) if Graham is in the game, the opposing defense knows that it's likely to be a pass play rather than a running play. If Graham were better at blocking there would be no tipoff. Also that would help Graham against press coverage.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Yeah I saw that someone posted similar info on another site but didn't back it up with PFF stats. He's not a good blocker, but he's not terrible either.

I believe I read he finished 39th among all TE's in blocking last year, which was actually a down year for his career. Considering teams usually keep 3 or more TE's that puts him roughly in the middle of the pack.

He definitely has room to improve though.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

It's not that Graham's blocking is really terrible. But it looks bad when we're bringing in Watson obvious running downs. Personally I would like to see more two TE sets with Watson on the line and Graham flexed out to the slot where Colston often is. That could solve a lot of the issues we have with playcalling being predictable.

Tangent but I really love the tight ends we have. I really believe if Graham wasn't here Watson would be a legit #1 TE. He's got the whole package. Josh Hill is pretty impressive too, IMO.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

^^^^^

To all of you Graham haters. Read the above and think. Come up with the REAL reason why you hate him so much. Behind Brees he is arguably the best offensive threat on the team. Behind Brees he is arguably the best character person on the team.

The alligator arms argument is totally bogus, as is the supposed blocking issue. My thoughts are that you may have other issues with Graham, instead. And if you try to say it had to do with the negotiations this off-season then you truly have no idea of how these things work. If it is the grievance, then you have totally ignored that the whole affair was driven by the NFLPA, not Jimmy Graham.

What is the real reason?

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

I agree to a point, but as good as I feel Watson is (I was totally pumped when we signed him), Graham is far and away a more valuable asset to the Saints.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

He is still relatively new to the position and still great, but I agree, he still has room to approve. But those who claim he is a liability blocking or has serious issue catching the ball are delusional.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

A-G, I'm not sure why so many people jump on a player, and continue to claim the same nonsense over and over again.

I'm sure I've done it a time or two so I'm not on a soapbox, I guess its just human nature.

Way too many times I see the comment "player X doesn't play the run as well as the pass" morph into "player X sucks against the run", and then morph into "player X is a total liability against the run and will be exploited every play".

Its the same thing thats happening with Graham. He's gone from "he isn't a great blocker" into "he's a total liability blocking".

I wonder why that happens so often?

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

I am wondering the same thing. That's why I am trying to find out the motivation behind the hatred from people we know here. I agree that there is no reason why they should feel this way based upon facts, but there is the very real possibility that other influences such as media based (not in this case at all), peer based (possibility ... classic mob psychological tendencies do exist) or socially based (playing on economic, racial, and/or religious factors), etc.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

I just want JG and the Saints organisation to get the deal done so he's a Saint for a long time to come! He's an excellent player to have on our team and has done a great job so far!

GEAUX SAINTS!!!!

Oh! Just one more thing. I have a Saints jersey with the name GRAHAM on the back of it, so he has to be a Saint for the next few years because I don't want to have to get another one for a long while yet! Saints shirts are a rare as rocking horse manure here in the UK! LOL!

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Do not fear. You will be wearing that jersey for years to come.

By the way, I once stepped in a pile of rocking horse manure and got a splinter in my toe.

Re: Graham designated TE by arbitrator
 

Was graham being taken off the field on running plays cuz he was hurt most of the season?