Jimmy Graham vs. the New Orleans Saints has finally ended and the Saints have won.
If you’re reading this with confused eyes, this is what you need to know:
With the Saints wanting to place the franchise tag on their superstar, Jimmy Graham, they claimed he was a tight end, meaning they would only have to pay him $7.035 million this season. Graham, however, wanted to be designated as a wide receiver, and therefore get paid $12.312 million this upcoming season.
Earlier this morning, Stephen Burbank, the arbitrator, ruled that Graham is a tight end and not a receiver, meaning Graham will be missing out on just about $5 million if the team and the player can’t reach a long term deal.
The way I see it, the general evidence to support the Saints’ side of the argument are the following points:
- Jimmy Graham is listed as a tight end on the depth chart
- Jimmy Graham lists himself as a tight end in his Twitter bio
This is Jimmy Graham’s argument:
- 67 percent of the time, Jimmy Graham lined up in traditional receiver positions, and not as a tight end
Burbank didn’t see it that way:
Breer is right. With the tight end position becoming more and more about pass catching as opposed to blocking, this decision has set a precedent that is sure to impact other pass catching tight ends.
Graham has 10 days to decide whether or not he wants to appeal the decision. If the decision stands, and if Graham plays next season on a franchise tag that is only costing the Saints $7 million, Jimmy Graham is going to be giving the Saints a lot more production than they paid for.
Here’s hoping the two sides can read a longterm deal and that Graham is paid based on his production, not based on a depth chart.
[genericon icon=twitter] Follow Sean Wagner-McGough on Twitter @seanjwagner
