NFL rumors: Beloved Saints tight end hints at NFL comeback

One NFL tight end thought to be retired hasn’t seemed to have closed the door completely on his playing career.

Given that Jimmy Graham did not play during the 2022 NFL season, you might have thought the tight end turned in his retirement papers to the league office and quietly ended his NFL career.

Admittedly, I was under the impression Graham’s playing days were officially over myself. But a recent Instagram post from Graham indicates he actually might be open to signing with a team for 2023.

Graham recently shared a video of a bike frame that was painted in Saints-inspired colors. In the caption, he said the frame is for his, “future retirement.”

Future as in… hasn’t happened yet?

Jimmy Graham is clearly open to an NFL return, but where?

Jimmy Graham made it more than clear: He is not retired, at least not yet. Given that he had this bike custom painted for his retirement, he’s clearly thinking that time will come sooner rather than later, but does he have another season left in the tank?

Graham’s most recent year, 2021, with the Chicago Bears, was a down one. He scored just three touchdowns and logged 11.1 yards per game, a far cry from his peak as a receiver in New Orleans when he scored 16 touchdowns on over 75 yards per game in 2013.

Graham, after he was traded away from New Orleans, never quite felt like he was weaponized offensively as well as he was with the Saints.

New Orleans has a knack for bringing out the best of players beyond their positional definition (just look at Taysom Hill) and Graham fit that bill perfectly. In fact, it led to financial frustration for Graham who was earning tight-end money but doing wide receiver work.

Interesting to see he’s open to coming back. As far as where he’ll end up, who knows, but at his age, he’d likely have to fall to second or third on the depth chart. The bike colors certainly have hopeful Saints fans thinking of New Orleans. He’d have to slot in behind Juwan Johnson and Adam Trautman, so it may not be the best fit out there.