The NFL franchise tag deadline is this afternoon, but the New Orleans Saints have already gone ahead and used their tag on tight end hybrid Jimmy Graham. The idea of tagging Graham seems to be so the Saints can have time to work out a long-term deal, but there may be other plans afoot when it comes to Graham’s future.
While hardly a report, ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on Monday morning that the idea of the Green Bay Packers or Seattle Seahawks trading for Graham isn’t as crazy as it seems — or is it?
If I'm the Seattle Seahawks or Green Bay Packers, I'm willing to sign TE Jimmy Graham to an offer sheet and to give up two 1's to get him.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2014
In order to acquire Graham, a team would have to sign him to an offer sheet and then hope that the Saints don’t match. If the Saints don’t — or can’t — match the offer, then the team signing Graham would trade two first-round picks to New Orleans to get him.
Both the Packers and Seahawks are in win now modes, and while they built though the draft, adding a dynamic and game changing weapon like Graham is unthinkably attractive. For the Saints, getting two first-round draft picks (which equates to a total of four) is a hard bargain to pass up, although Graham is hardly chump change to just toss to another team.