SmashMouth

Although the New Orleans Saints are pleased an NFL arbitrator ruled Jimmy Graham as a tight end for franchise-tagging purposes, they don't like how he reached that conclusion.

Pro Football Talk cited an unnamed source and reported Sunday (July 6) the Saints "disagree with the notion that the question of tight end vs. receiver boils down to whether the player lines up most of the time within four yards of an offensive tackle."

There's more to it than that, the Saints believe.

Pro Football Talk said the Saints put Graham in various positions on the field to help Drew Brees determine if the defense is lined up in man or zone coverage.

And, as our Larry Holder illustrated last month -- several weeks before the arbitrator ruling -- how Graham is defended is also a significant consideration.

Most top-flight receivers are defended by a cornerback on every play, Holder wrote, and that wasn't the case for Graham.

According to Holder, who charted every pass route Graham ran last season, including the postseason, Graham did most of his damage when he was covered by somebody other than a cornerback.

More specifically, of Graham's 90 catches for 1,267 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, including the playoffs, only 20 catches were made against a cornerback, for 258 yards and four touchdowns, Holder reported.

Now with the arbitrator ruling in, it seems using the four-yard mark as a guideline could create an argument for Graham or another tight end to be considered a receiver -- and receive the corresponding $5 million or so pay bump -- if he lines up outside the four-yard range on more than half his snaps in a future season.

read more

Attached Thumbnails