TE Jimmy Graham, CHI (2 Viewers)

[rjv]

ESPN - Jimmy Graham's deal with Saints worth $40M over 4 years (includes $21M guaranteed), source tells ESPN

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Clear the room, the Saints are marching again. Top 5 Offense, Top 5 Defense, coming right up.

 

[ffgiant]

The Saints got a great deal to lock in their top player. An average 10 million a year is a bit low for his talents.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Saints got a great deal to lock in their top player. An average 10 million a year is a bit low for his talents.

And he was underpaid up until now too. It's amazing how excellent this franchise's front office has become.

 

[steveski]

The Saints got a great deal to lock in their top player. An average 10 million a year is a bit low for his talents.

And he was underpaid up until now too. It's amazing how excellent this franchise's front office has become.

And they get to let him walk if he shows any start of decline after 4 years or franchise him to keep him for 1 more. They don't get stuck dealing with the last couple "aging veteran on a big contract" years that so many teams have to deal with. At the same time Graham will still be "young" enough that some team will overpay for him to ride out the last few years of his career at a big price. All sides win on this deal.

As a Graham owner, I'm just happy he'll be locked in with Brees for 4 more years.

 

[Jeremy]

The Saints got a great deal to lock in their top player. An average 10 million a year is a bit low for his talents.

Yeah, I would have guessed a little higher, maybe $45 million and $25 mil guaranteed over 4 years. But the Saints did have leverage.

 

[Grahamburn]

They met in the middle. Good for them.

 

[Henry Ford]

Was really hoping for a longer deal.

 

[Doug B]

More details about the contract from ProFootballTalk:

Per a source with knowledge of the contract, Graham received $12 million to sign, along with a $1 million base salary for 2014. That’s $13 million in the first year (math!) and a cap number of $4 million.

The rest of the guaranteed money falls into 2015 salary, which is guaranteed for injury only, for now. The $8 million Graham is due to make next year becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2015 waiver period. This means that, as a practical matter, the Saints won’t be cutting Graham before the injury guarantee becomes a full and complete guarantee.

...

Even if the Saints were to cut Graham before the next $8 million becomes fully guaranteed, Graham would get $13 million for one season and then become a free agent well before free agency opens.

So Graham either gets $21 million over two years or $13 million over one and a crack at the open market. Either way, that’s better than $7 million for 2014 — and it’s a lot better than the $4 million or so Graham has earned in four NFL seasons.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The Saints got a great deal to lock in their top player. An average 10 million a year is a bit low for his talents.

And he was underpaid up until now too. It's amazing how excellent this franchise's front office has become.

And they get to let him walk if he shows any start of decline after 4 years or franchise him to keep him for 1 more. They don't get stuck dealing with the last couple "aging veteran on a big contract" years that so many teams have to deal with. At the same time Graham will still be "young" enough that some team will overpay for him to ride out the last few years of his career at a big price. All sides win on this deal.

As a Graham owner, I'm just happy he'll be locked in with Brees for 4 more years.

Was really hoping for a longer deal.

Actually the Brees thing might be what's really going on here.

 

[massraider]

Great deal for the Saints. Really great deal.

 

[Raiderfan32904]

Who was Graham's agent? Rosenhaus? He should be a little peeved with him. At his age, if I was Graham I'd be happy with the $10 mill per year, but I'd be looking for a 5 year deal. Compare that to Vernon Davis who got $23 mill guaranteed a couple years ago. Graham should have set a new high water mark for guaranteed money. I was thinking he'd get at least $25 mill gtd, but settled for $21 mill. Hope Graham is happy now. He's now set for life. I wonder why V. Davis is now talking about holding out after getting paid all that money up front? Oh yeah, he spent thru all that money.

Agree that it was a great deal for the Saints. Jimmy? not so much.

 

[Doug B]

Who was Graham's agent? Rosenhaus? He should be a little peeved with him. At his age, if I was Graham I'd be happy with the $10 mill per year, but I'd be looking for a 5 year deal.

I think a 5-year deal with more guaranteed money was on the table. I also think Graham wanted a shorter deal after all to have a chance to enter free agency young enough (31) to have a shot at cashing in on one more decent pro contract.

 

[Skeletore Eh]

Jimmy Graham - TE - Saints
Jimmy Graham's $8 million 2015 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2015 waiver period.
Graham's new four-year, $40 million contract included $21 million in guarantees. That comes in the form of a $12 million signing bonus, $1 million 2014 base salary and $8 million 2015 base. So he's a lock to get all that money, and is an excellent bet to get all $40 million as long as he sustains health. If Graham does play out the full four years at his current dominant level, he'll break the bank when he hits the open market at age-31. His camp had no leverage in this deal because they were handcuffed by the franchise tag.

 

[Sabertooth]

He'll break the bank at 31? What's wrong with that sentence?

 

[Raiderfan32904]

He'll break the bank at 31? What's wrong with that sentence?

Exactly why you take as much money as you can, especially guaranteed, and roll with it. This isn't the NBA where players get obscene amounts of guaranteed money into their mid-30's.

 

[humpback]

Who was Graham's agent? Rosenhaus? He should be a little peeved with him. At his age, if I was Graham I'd be happy with the $10 mill per year, but I'd be looking for a 5 year deal.

I think a 5-year deal with more guaranteed money was on the table. I also think Graham wanted a shorter deal after all to have a chance to enter free agency young enough (31) to have a shot at cashing in on one more decent pro contract.

Is this based on anything or just your opinion? It doesn't seem to make sense, unless the 5th year was low-ball.

 

[Doug B]

Is this based on anything or just your opinion? It doesn't seem to make sense, unless the 5th year was low-ball.

Just my speculation. The "five-year deal" thing was bandied about a lot, but I don't think the Saints ever went public with the length of the initial offer to Graham (though the dollars/yr was leaked).

 

[cstu]

Jimmy Graham - TE - Saints
Jimmy Graham's $8 million 2015 salary becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2015 waiver period.
Graham's new four-year, $40 million contract included $21 million in guarantees. That comes in the form of a $12 million signing bonus, $1 million 2014 base salary and $8 million 2015 base. So he's a lock to get all that money, and is an excellent bet to get all $40 million as long as he sustains health. If Graham does play out the full four years at his current dominant level, he'll break the bank when he hits the open market at age-31. His camp had no leverage in this deal because they were handcuffed by the franchise tag.

Great contract for the Saints - $21M the first two years, then $9M and $10M.

 

[cstu]

He'll break the bank at 31? What's wrong with that sentence?

Yeah, I think the Saints are getting him in his prime for a very reasonable price.

 

[cstu]

Who was Graham's agent? Rosenhaus? He should be a little peeved with him. At his age, if I was Graham I'd be happy with the $10 mill per year, but I'd be looking for a 5 year deal. Compare that to Vernon Davis who got $23 mill guaranteed a couple years ago. Graham should have set a new high water mark for guaranteed money. I was thinking he'd get at least $25 mill gtd, but settled for $21 mill. Hope Graham is happy now. He's now set for life. I wonder why V. Davis is now talking about holding out after getting paid all that money up front? Oh yeah, he spent thru all that money.

Agree that it was a great deal for the Saints. Jimmy? not so much.

Longer contracts without more guaranteed money is a negative for players. This contract is pretty good for Graham since he should see all the money and then get a new contract with even more guaranteed money in 2017.

 

[massraider]

A 5th year at 10 mil or close to it, will probably seem like a ridiculous steal for New Orleans. There would be no more, security in a 5th year for Graham, just a slightly larger cap hit if he isn't worth it. But if he continues as he has been, the best receiving TE ever, he'll get a huge deal at 31. HUGE. I actually can't believe people think otherwise.

 

[humpback]

A 5th year at 10 mil or close to it, will probably seem like a ridiculous steal for New Orleans. There would be no more, security in a 5th year for Graham, just a slightly larger cap hit if he isn't worth it. But if he continues as he has been, the best receiving TE ever, he'll get a huge deal at 31. HUGE. I actually can't believe people think otherwise.

It's all about the guaranteed money- if they added a year at $10 mil with none guaranteed, then you'd be correct. If they upped the guaranteed money, then there would be more security obviously.

 

[Faust]

Graham's contract will look even better for the Saints over the next few years when the salary cap rises each year.

 

[humpback]

No WR, except Calvin, presents the matchup problem that Graham does.

Someone needs to explain the New England, St. Louis, and Seattle (x2) games last season, then. "Matchup problems" aren't game-plannable. The best that can be said going forward is that with Brandin Cooks and a now-veteran Kenny Stills, maybe when teams use their #1 CBs on Jimmy Graham this season the Saints will be better prepared to exploit it with their actual WRs.

Along these lines- what the drop in 2012 all due to injuries?

 

[Doug B]

Along these lines- what the drop in 2012 all due to injuries?

He played the 2012 season with an injured left wrist, and I think that was the biggest single factor with the drops. Also, I guess it could be said that Graham was still a developing player at the time. Still is considering he played only one year of college football.

 

[humpback]

Along these lines- what the drop in 2012 all due to injuries?

He played the 2012 season with an injured left wrist, and I think that was the biggest single factor with the drops. Also, I guess it could be said that Graham was still a developing player at the time. Still is considering he played only one year of college football.

I don't think it was development just because he was dominant the year prior. I know Payton was suspended in 2012 and the Saints struggled a bit, although Brees still put up good numbers. I assumed it was the wrist, just making sure there wasn't some other scheme/match-up difference that I wasn't aware of.

 

[Faust]

How to be a Saint:

The NFL can ban his goalpost dunk, but they can't deny Jimmy Graham's passion

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/hotread140829/new-orleans-saints-tight-end-jimmy-graham-struggles-find-field-identity

 

[Faust]

Saints implementing 'new wrinkles' for Jimmy Graham:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000389951/article/saints-implementing-new-wrinkles-for-jimmy-graham

 

[Faust]

Jimmy Graham caught ten passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns in the Saints' 26-24, Week 2 loss to the Browns.

The Saints' offense got off to an extremely slow start, as they totaled just 14 yards on 12 plays in the opening quarter. Graham was targeted a game-high 13 times on the afternoon, beating Joe Haden for a nine-yard touchdown on a jump ball end-zone fade ahead of halftime. He later beat Haden again to directly set up Mark Ingram's one-yard score. Graham beat Buster Skrine for a one-yard score on a rollout play in the third quarter. The Browns couldn't stop him, just like the rest of the league. Graham gets the Vikings at home next week.



Sep 14 - 4:10 PM

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

 

[SameSongNDance]

My favorite tweet of the night..

Michael Fabiano @Michael_Fabiano · 4h
Anyone else notice that Jimmy Graham has done zilch? He's had one strong game so far. Fantasy fans hoping for garbage time points.

This was tweeted shortly after his slow-ish start tonight but totally ignored the fact that Jimmy was leading all TEs in receptions and yards coming into this week. He was already on pace for career reception and yardage totals before this week. I can't believe this clown gets paid for his analysis.

 

[ghostguy123]

Call me crazy but i am happy to own graham in one of my dynasty leagues. I am a bif fan of his slow start Fabiano

 

[Buck Bradcanon]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

 

[shadyridr]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

 

[Henry Ford]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

 

[John 14:6]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Plus the #2 TE has a TD in each of the last two games IIRC. While that happens on lots of teams, it can still be disheartening when your guy gets "vultured."

 

[SameSongNDance]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Plus the #2 TE has a TD in each of the last two games IIRC. While that happens on lots of teams, it can still be disheartening when your guy gets "vultured."

I'm surprised you guys haven't realized it but that rotoworld pace is incorrect. It's actually 128/1360/12. Still, that's good for 406 points in my ffpc league. He's essentially an elite QB in ffpc . The 1.5 ppr bonus pumps that pace up to 192 catches.

 

[Buck Bradcanon]

Effing math.

 

[John 14:6]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.

Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Plus the #2 TE has a TD in each of the last two games IIRC. While that happens on lots of teams, it can still be disheartening when your guy gets "vultured."

I'm surprised you guys haven't realized it but that rotoworld pace is incorrect. It's actually 128/1360/12. Still, that's good for 406 points in my ffpc league. He's essentially an elite QB in ffpc . The 1.5 ppr bonus pumps that pace up to 192 catches.

Don't be surprised. I'm sure most of us have better things to do than double check Rotoworld's math...

 

[SameSongNDance]

Effing math.

It's okay, this just reconfirms that the RW blurbs are written by incompetent morons.

 

[jdoggydogg]

My favorite tweet of the night..

Michael Fabiano @Michael_Fabiano · 4h
Anyone else notice that Jimmy Graham has done zilch? He's had one strong game so far. Fantasy fans hoping for garbage time points.

This was tweeted shortly after his slow-ish start tonight but totally ignored the fact that Jimmy was leading all TEs in receptions and yards coming into this week. He was already on pace for career reception and yardage totals before this week. I can't believe this clown gets paid for his analysis.

Dude. Right?

Just the other day, Fabiano (who did not like Kelvin Benjamin in the pre-season) said that Kelvin is, "Moving into that WR3 range." WR3? Tell that to the Demarius Thomas owners. I guarantee Kelvin owners are all playing him as a WR1 every week.

 

[Acrobat7]

My favorite tweet of the night..

Michael Fabiano @Michael_Fabiano · 4h

Anyone else notice that Jimmy Graham has done zilch? He's had one strong game so far. Fantasy fans hoping for garbage time points.

This was tweeted shortly after his slow-ish start tonight but totally ignored the fact that Jimmy was leading all TEs in receptions and yards coming into this week. He was already on pace for career reception and yardage totals before this week. I can't believe this clown gets paid for his analysis.

Dude. Right?

Just the other day, Fabiano (who did not like Kelvin Benjamin in the pre-season) said that Kelvin is, "Moving into that WR3 range." WR3? Tell that to the Demarius Thomas owners. I guarantee Kelvin owners are all playing him as a WR1 every week.

He probably also called Antonio Brown a "strong WR2" last season.

 

[Kwai Chang Caine]

Not that anyone cares about my team but my main league is a keep one keeper. I just traded away Bernard and Donnell for Graham and Richardson (gulp!). My team is 2-2 but I mainly did this to get him and never let him go. Guy is 27 years old and may not have actually hit his prime! This being another year where the top RBs are busting, why not get as close to a sure thing on your team as you can when you can have him as long as you want? I value him over Megatron as well.

 

[jurb26]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Graham has always dropped a lot of passes. It come with the territory.

 

[John 14:6]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Graham has always dropped a lot of passes. It come with the territory.

Doesn't Calvin Johnson have the same issue?

 

[jurb26]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 86 yards and a touchdown in Sunday night's Week 4 loss to the Cowboys.Graham had one catch in the first half before coming on late in the fourth quarter. His touchdown was a 13-yard pass from Drew Brees. Graham had a team-high 11 targets, but lost a red-zone look to Josh Hill. He's on pace for a 128/1,704/12 line through four games. Graham will remain a must-start in Week 5.

Sep 29 - 12:33 AM

Good lord.

lol insane and its feels like hes been a slight disappointment.

He's dropping a lot of balls that are very catchable. If he hadn't, he'd be on pace for 2,000 and 17, minimum.

Graham has always dropped a lot of passes. It come with the territory.

Doesn't Calvin Johnson have the same issue?

Yeah and so does Marshall and a few others. It doesn't matter as much if your as physically dominant as they are.

 

[Faust]

Bucs face big challenge in Jimmy Graham:

http://espn.go.com/blog/tampa-bay-buccaneers/post/_/id/6497/bucs-face-big-challenge-in-jimmy-graham

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

Jimmy Graham exited the Saints' Week 5 game in the second quarter with a right shoulder injury.

Graham and Bucs WLB Lavonte David collided in the open field, with Graham taking the worst of it. He immediately went to the sideline and laid on his back for trainers to work on him. Graham went back in and caught a 23-yard pass but quickly came out and went to the locker room for X-rays. He had two catches for 36 yards before leaving the field. Josh Hill is in at tight end. Graham is reportedly probable to return.

Oct 5 - 2:15 PM

 

[Cowboys#1]

Just heard that he is OUT for the rest of the game.