Drew Brees suggests Saints would be fine without Jimmy Graham

The New Orleans Saints and tight end (or as he likes to call him, wide receiver) Jimmy Graham continue their contract dispute stemming over how the Pro Bowl talent should be franchised, either as a wideout or a tight end.

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Graham of course was drafted as a tight end and is a tight end on the Saints depth chart, but he’s used in a lot of wide receiver routes which is why he believes he should be paid like like one.

Given the near $5 million dollar difference, it’s an understandable fight. But it’s also a fight that doesn’t appear to have an end in sight and New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees suggested that while he understandably wants Graham to return, they’d be fine without him.

“I’d hate to not have Jimmy,” Brees told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m very confident that a deal will get done. But if it doesn’t, you worry about what you do have and who you do have out there.”

Brees continued.

“Look at our numbers over the last eight years,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of different guys in there. Jimmy’s only been here four years. He’s only been here half the time. We were putting up some pretty big numbers before he got here, and we’ve been putting up some big numbers since he’s been here.”

He certainly has a point about the Saints’ offensive numbers, though, that’s a product of the system and losing Graham would understandably be a hefty blow to the Saints passing game. Maybe the impact wouldn’t be felt as hard as it would on another team given New Orleans system, but I’m sure they’d feel an impact regardless.