Jimmy Graham likely to land long-term extension before grievance deadline

There were a number of issues at play when the New Orleans Saints slapped Jimmy Graham with the franchise tag at the beginning of this month.

At issue at the time was whether or not Graham would be designated as a tight end or wide receiver as far as how his franchise tag number would be calculated. Once he was determined to be a tight end for the purposes of that process, the next important deadline was April 22nd. Graham has until that day to file a grievance about the aforementioned tight end designation.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the process will never reach that point. Florio reports that the Saints and Graham will come to an agreement on a long-term deal before Graham has a chance to file that grievance.

Per a league source, the current expectation is that the Saints and Graham will finalize a long-term contract before Graham pulls the pin on a grievance grenade.”

Though there are not many tight ends with the unique skill set of Graham, there is still an emerging trend in the NFL where teams use more and more of these hybrid type players at the position. In that sense he might not be the first player to deal with this type of situation. Luckily for him and the Saints, it sounds like there is a good chance Graham will land the long-term deal he desires before things have the chance to get ugly.


(fansided.com)