No future TE/WR worries.

[gandydancer]

Not that I feel it was going to be a issue in Detroit anytime soon.

Arbitrator rules Jimmy Graham is a tight end - CBSSports.com

 

[tpaulus_2]

We'll see what that landscape looks like in five years when Ebron has played out his rookie deal. Hopefully he makes it to that point.. always a good problem to have, signing the draft picks that do pan out to bigger, more expensive deals.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

We'll see what that landscape looks like in five years when Ebron has played out his rookie deal. Hopefully he makes it to that point.. always a good problem to have, signing the draft picks that do pan out to bigger, more expensive deals.

hhhmmmm, like Suh ?

his current contract is already a problem. like a huge financial burden, problem. should he get a new contract, that will be a bigger problem for this franchise for years to come.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

Every position has a new defining contract that sets the landscape for future contracts. I posted some time ago that I believe (I do not have the time to check this factually right now) that the highest paid WR in the league was Andre Johnson at a $10m average before Fitzgerald signed one averaging something like $15m. It was an unbelievable increase.

I believe that Graham, whether it be this year or next, will be the player who sets the new floor for TE's. While he will not get to the franchise level of the WR tag he wanted he will get something in the middle of the TE and WR numbers. $10m would seem about right.

Do not be surprised if the next move from the Graham camp is to openly tell the Saints that he isnt signing the franchise tag and will not be reporting to camp. That is certainly the move I would play and extremely aggressively tell the Saints that he will hold out into the season. The two sides have until July 15 to get a new long term deal done. After that it can only be a one year deal.

Saints are in a bad spot here. They already surely have a pissed off player who will be looking for the first chance he gets to get the hell out of New Orleans. If the Graham camp sticks to their guns and tells the Saints he will only be reporting just short of the deadline in the season when he absolutely has to so he can make sure to accrue the season of play they would be truly stupid to try and call that as a bluff. Without him in a competitive divison they could be all but eliminated from playoff contention. And under the tag rules there are no performance incentives at all so he could be out of shape and suck ass when he does report. He will still get the big money deal in FA the next year because the Saints wont tag him twice after seeing what happened the previous year and he will more than likely make up any $ he sacrifices this year with the new contract he would get next year.

 

[Naughtymax]

Yeah. I had thought it would be better for the Saints if he was WR tagged so he'd be happy to play while they negotiated.

 

[Old Lion]

I wanted to give them Pettigrew and Durham and our number 1 plus a number 3 next year for Graham. They could have drafted Ebron instead.