Franchise Tag Just a Necessary Step, Jimmy Graham and Saints Still Miles Apart

March 1, 2014   ·   Knox Bardeen   ·   Jump to comments

New Orleans Saints offensive weapon Jimmy Graham let the world know via Twitter on Friday that he had been slapped with the franchise tag.
Graham may be it, and he’s definitely been tagged, but this isn’t even close to being the end of the Graham-Saints contract debacle. It’s going to get ugly. It’s already bad enough that I have to call Graham an offensive weapon. I’m not sure if he’s a wide receiver or a tight end.
That’s the $5.27 million question. And the Saints and Graham are having trouble answering it.
Graham just finished the final year of his rookie contract and was set to become a free agent when the league calendar resets on March 11. Instead of letting Graham walk and in lieu of working out a long-term deal (more on this later), the Saints decided to use their franchise tag to keep him in New Orleans for the 2014 season.
Now that Graham has been tagged, the league office must decide how much to pay him. In the pa...

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