Packers might be wise to make an offer to Jimmy Graham

The NFL franchise tag may as well be a ball and chain for prospective free agents who receive it. After all, most teams are unwilling to pitch them proposals knowing it will cost two first-round draft picks if the club that owns the tagged player’s rights refuses to match an offer sheet.

Might Jimmy Graham be a rare exception to the rule?

The New Orleans Saints have franchised the all-pro tight end, who is the primary target of Drew Brees’ and Sean Payton’s aerial circus. In all likelihood, a deal will eventually get done to keep Graham in The Big Easy, though probably not before he and the front office go through a seemingly unnecessary spat as to whether his tag should carry the tight end value ($7.1 million) or more lucrative wide receiver figure ($12.1 million) since Graham spends much of his time split wide.

But while the impasse lingers in New Orleans, other teams are surely considering whether it makes sense to pursue a player who led the NFL with 16 TD grabs in 2013 and might be the league’s premier mismatch player.

There may be one club perfectly positioned to make a run at Graham — the Green Bay Packers.

Here’s why:

1) With Jermichael Finley headed to free agency and his medical prognosis uncertain anyway, Green Bay has a need at the position. No. 3 wideout James Jones is also probably on the way out a year after Greg Jennings defected. QB Aaron Rodgers’ once vast array of aerial weapons seems to be dwindling.

2) GM Ted Thompson has the ability to pay Graham. Though he generally loathes bringing in outside players, Thompson seems open to it this year as he sits on more than $30 million in cap space. That’s probably enough to extend WRs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, buy a few parts for the defensive line and still make Graham an offer in the six-year, $70 million range to make him the league’s best-paid tight end. (The six-year extension Rob Gronkowski signed in 2012 averages $9 million per season, the current benchmark at the position.)

3) Thompson has earned enough goodwill — including a title in 2010 — and proven a savvy enough talent evaluator that he can probably sell the move to his fan base. Rodgers is in the prime of his career and having a weapon like Graham would theoretically make the offense even more explosive. Thompson can easily brand Graham as Green Bay’s first-round pick in 2014, a trade most teams would gladly take, he just has to be comfortable giving away that second Round 1 pick in 2015 — which will probably be a low first rounder anyway given the Packers’ track record – for a roster that boasts a nucleus as good as any organization’s. Locking up the tight end for a half-dozen years or so would also provide more security than a four- or five-year rookie contract.
Graham would cost a lot of cheese, but he’s the rare non-quarterback who could be worth it.


(usatoday.com)