Potential contract ramifications will have no impact on how Saints use TE Jimmy Graham - MERGED (1 Viewer)

Dan in Lafayette

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PHOENIX – New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton said he has no intention of changing the way he uses Jimmy Graham just to get around a possible showdown over whether the player is considered a tight end or a wide receiver in free agency.

"We're going to do whatever we have to do to win games, whether that's line him up wide, in the slot, three yards off the tackle, five yards off the tackle or right next to the tackle, whatever," Payton said in reference to the tight end.

Graham is scheduled to be a free agent at the end of the 2013 season. While the Saints would like to get a long-term deal done with him before the end of the season, New Orleans faces some salary-cap issues.

That means that the team might be forced to put a franchise tag on Graham next offseason to prevent it from losing him to another team. The rub is that the franchise tag for a tight end is far less expensive than it is for a wide receiver. This year, the difference is approximately $4.5 million on the cap ($6 million for a tight end and $10.5 million for a wide receiver).

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Honestly, I think it is. I am not sure what the deal is with TEs thinking they are WRs when it comes to the franchise tag.

When you say Tight ends do you mean Tight end? Because I dont recall any other tight end claiming this besides Jared Cook.
 
When you say Tight ends do you mean Tight end? Because I dont recall any other tight end claiming this besides Jared Cook.

Jermichael Finely's agent was saying the same thing as Cook, but he never made it to the franchise tag, because the packers and finley came to a contract agreement. They basically split the WR and TE tags and gave him a 2 year -15 mil deal.
 
Honestly, I think it is. I am not sure what the deal is with TEs thinking they are WRs when it comes to the franchise tag.

Unfortunately not, PFT was going through this a few weeks ago with the Cook situation and the new CBA states:

“[T]he tender will apply to the position in which the player participated in the most plays,” declares Article 9, Section 2 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.


I believe that is why the Titans didn't tag him at all, because there was going to be a battle between which tag to use and it probably didn't bode well for them.

link: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...k-has-a-strong-case-for-receiver-designation/
 
Even if he gets tagged next year, I don't see him playing under a one year franchise tender.

I think it's a non-issue either way. They may tag him, but it won't take long before he signs a long term deal.
 
Drew Brees takes a tiny pay cut along with Colston maybe. Either Harper gone and saving basically enough to sign Gaham with his contract or pay cut to stay here. Train Pierre and we have more than enough to afford Graham who is going no where!
 
i hope they lock him up after we're done in FA, cut some dead weight and lock him up. i dont want to see him play through the end of his contract and have to play another waiting game next year.
 
I do think the number of snaps he lines up as a TE is much closer to 50% like 2011, than 28% like 2012
 

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