CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms

jeanpierre · 01-23-2017, 08:22 PM

If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms

With $10 million on the table and just 8 touchdowns scored in two years, the Seattle Seahawks face a tough decision with tight end Jimmy Graham.

by John Sigler Jan 18, 2017, 4:00pm CST

The infamous Jimmy Graham trade and its aftershocks have been felt all around the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints. Jimmy Graham’s old No. 80 jersey is still an easy find at almost every Goodwill, T.J. Maxx, and Academy Sports Goods from Lafayette, LA to Mobile, AL. Rabid 12’s are all over Twitter questioning whether the money invested in the embattled tight end is worth a subpar offensive line.

Graham is on the brink of the last year of a contract painstakingly negotiated in the summer of 2014. The Seahawks can free up $10 million to pursue NFL-quality offensive linemen in free agency by releasing Graham from that contract. Right now, he’s the fourth-highest paid player on Seattle’s 2017 roster with that $10 million cap hit (no dead money involved). Only safety Earl Thomas ($10.4 million), cornerback Richard Sherman ($13.631 million), and quarterback Russell Wilson ($18.8 million) are taking up more of the Seahawks salary cap room.

Simply put, Graham isn’t a great fit for the Seahawks’ offense. He is a much-improved blocker from his first tenure with the Saints and is still a dynamic receiving weapon downfield, on the perimeter, and in the red zone. But quarterback Russell Wilson has been bombarded with pass rushers because the Seahawks have neglected his protection. The Seahawks may be better off reinforcing the line than paying a top-level tight end. For what it’s worth, wide receiver Doug Baldwin had 30 more targets than Graham despite appearing in the same number of games.

There are prospects in this draft class who are younger, healthier, and cheaper than Graham and could fill in for him. He just turned 30 years old this past November. With nine picks to spend, the Seahawks can efficiently replace him with someone like David Njoku (another Miami Hurricanes tight end), O.J. Howard (Alabama), or Evan Engram (Mississippi).

Should that happen, and Graham be willing to bury the hatchet with his former team, the Saints should welcome him home. The connection he had with Drew Brees was rare and at times unstoppable. With a tight-knit locker room rebuilt in the 2009 championship team’s image and other standout receiving threats like Michael Thomas, Willie Snead, and Brandin Cooks, Graham could again be a vital piece in Sean Payton’s offense.

The important thing is that the Saints don’t need Graham again to field an elite offense. The latest version can do things previous years’ teams couldn’t like win straight-up rather than with mismatches. Bringing Graham back into the fold would be polishing off an already-impressive product.

JIMMY Graham THE MONSTER Highlight Reel - YouTube

But before any of that can happen, before big men like Jimmy Graham and Sean Payton can reach across the aisle and reconcile, the ball is in Seattle’s court. All we can do is watch.

foreverfan · 01-23-2017, 08:26 PM

We have a 7th round pick for Seattle.

dizzle88 · 01-23-2017, 08:47 PM

No thanks, Brees is a better QB without graham, he trusts him far too much and it crippled our offense when they always zeroed in on Graham.

K Major · 01-23-2017, 09:09 PM

Seattle will probably extend him.

All of that "paid as a TE or a WR" drama kind of soured things in New Orleans.

AsylumGuido · 01-23-2017, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by K Major

Seattle will probably extend him.

All of that "paid as a TE or a WR" drama kind of soured things in New Orleans.

That was NFLPA driven. They saw Graham's situation as a perfect test case. They did the same exact thing with the Brees franchise tag situation.

NonieT · 01-23-2017, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by AsylumGuido

That was NFLPA driven. They saw Graham's situation as a perfect test case. They did the same exact thing with the Brees franchise tag situation.

Maybe but Graham ate the cheese and it soured his relationship with the front office. That was all on Jimmy Graham.

AsylumGuido · 01-23-2017, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by NonieT

Maybe but Graham ate the cheese and it soured is relationship with the front office. That was all on Jimmy Gaham.

And you know it is soured how? Was it Payton, Graham or Loomis that told you that? They are the only ones that could know that for sure. Anything else is merely supposition.

halloween 65 · 01-23-2017, 10:43 PM

He was traded for a reason. He was soft and I haven't seen much if any change.

AsylumGuido · 01-23-2017, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by halloween 65

He was traded for a reason. He was soft and I haven't seen much if any change.

He was traded because he had enough value to get Unger in return. Don't forget, Payton had originally offered Kenny Stills for Unger, but Seattle demanded Graham. But, yes, Graham was soft, but Fleener isn't looking any tougher and appears to have issues catching the ball. Graham has also supposedly worked on improving his blocking skills. The little I saw he did actually engage more often than he did in his time with the Saints. Seattle just never used him to his strengths. For the right price he could be a huge upgrade.

halloween 65 · 01-23-2017, 11:10 PM

Originally Posted by AsylumGuido

He was traded because he had enough value to get Unger in return. Don't forget, Payton had originally offered Kenny Stills for Unger, but Seattle demanded Graham. But, yes, Graham was soft, but Fleener isn't looking any tougher and appears to have issues catching the ball. Graham has also supposedly worked on improving his blocking skills. The little I saw he did actually engage more often than he did in his time with the Saints. Seattle just never used him to his strengths. For the right price he could be a huge upgrade.

I got to agree 100% about Fleener. True Graham would be an upgrade over Fleener and we need a TE badly, I just can't see it being Graham, I might be wrong but I would look high and low before I brought him back because when he got that contract he basically give up.

01-23-2017, 08:26 PM	#2
foreverfan 12,000 BS Posts Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Metairie, LA Posts: 13,457 Blog Entries: 5	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms We have a 7th round pick for Seattle. RockyMountainSaint and Saint in Aus like this.

01-23-2017, 08:47 PM	#3
dizzle88 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 11,208	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms No thanks, Brees is a better QB without graham, he trusts him far too much and it crippled our offense when they always zeroed in on Graham. jnormand, RockyMountainSaint and stickman like this.

01-23-2017, 09:09 PM	#4
K Major Site Donor 2019 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Bedford, TX Posts: 24,619 Blog Entries: 3	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Seattle will probably extend him. All of that "paid as a TE or a WR" drama kind of soured things in New Orleans. RockyMountainSaint likes this.

01-23-2017, 09:47 PM	#5
AsylumGuido 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bossier City, LA Posts: 26,220	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Originally Posted by K Major Seattle will probably extend him. All of that "paid as a TE or a WR" drama kind of soured things in New Orleans. That was NFLPA driven. They saw Graham's situation as a perfect test case. They did the same exact thing with the Brees franchise tag situation. Danno and Rugby Saint II like this.

01-23-2017, 10:24 PM	#6
NonieT 500th Post Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 921	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Originally Posted by AsylumGuido That was NFLPA driven. They saw Graham's situation as a perfect test case. They did the same exact thing with the Brees franchise tag situation. Maybe but Graham ate the cheese and it soured his relationship with the front office. That was all on Jimmy Graham. jnormand, RockyMountainSaint and 44Champs like this.
NonieT 500th Post Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 921

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01-23-2017, 10:39 PM	#7
AsylumGuido 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bossier City, LA Posts: 26,220	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Originally Posted by NonieT Maybe but Graham ate the cheese and it soured is relationship with the front office. That was all on Jimmy Gaham. And you know it is soured how? Was it Payton, Graham or Loomis that told you that? They are the only ones that could know that for sure. Anything else is merely supposition.

01-23-2017, 10:43 PM	#8
halloween 65 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Grand Haven, Michigan by way of a little Mississippi River town in Louisiana Posts: 5,893	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms He was traded for a reason. He was soft and I haven't seen much if any change.

01-23-2017, 11:01 PM	#9
AsylumGuido 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bossier City, LA Posts: 26,220	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Originally Posted by halloween 65 He was traded for a reason. He was soft and I haven't seen much if any change. He was traded because he had enough value to get Unger in return. Don't forget, Payton had originally offered Kenny Stills for Unger, but Seattle demanded Graham. But, yes, Graham was soft, but Fleener isn't looking any tougher and appears to have issues catching the ball. Graham has also supposedly worked on improving his blocking skills. The little I saw he did actually engage more often than he did in his time with the Saints. Seattle just never used him to his strengths. For the right price he could be a huge upgrade.

01-23-2017, 11:10 PM	#10
halloween 65 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Grand Haven, Michigan by way of a little Mississippi River town in Louisiana Posts: 5,893	Re: CSC: If cut, Saints should welcome Jimmy Graham home with open arms Originally Posted by AsylumGuido He was traded because he had enough value to get Unger in return. Don't forget, Payton had originally offered Kenny Stills for Unger, but Seattle demanded Graham. But, yes, Graham was soft, but Fleener isn't looking any tougher and appears to have issues catching the ball. Graham has also supposedly worked on improving his blocking skills. The little I saw he did actually engage more often than he did in his time with the Saints. Seattle just never used him to his strengths. For the right price he could be a huge upgrade. I got to agree 100% about Fleener. True Graham would be an upgrade over Fleener and we need a TE badly, I just can't see it being Graham, I might be wrong but I would look high and low before I brought him back because when he got that contract he basically give up. SaintFanQ likes this.

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