Legendary New Orleans Saints Tight End Jimmy Graham Announces Retirement

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Legendary tight end Jimmy Graham plans to retire as a Saint, per John Deshazier.

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Hell yea.

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Well he did get traded. But I agree he may have been a HOFer if he stayed.

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He got traded because he was being a $hit because he thought he deserved unreasonable cash for his role on the team. So, in retrospect, if the guy was humble, and understood that Drew and Payton's offense were a large factor for his success, he could have stayed and became legendary. But he felt he was larger than the Saints offensive machine at the time and it cost him dearly.

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NFL tight end is eighth all-time in receiving yards for his position and fourth all-time in touchdowns

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If he stayed with Brees, he probably would be the all time leader in tds and top 3 in yards.

Definitely cost himself a HoF spot

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He got traded because he was being a $hit because he thought he deserved unreasonable cash for his role on the team.

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To be fair he was the best offensive weapon on the team and one of the best in the league. From 2011-2014 he led the team in receptions, yards, and TDs. He had 16 receiving TDs in 2013. In the Brees era, no other receiver on the team has had 16 TDs. Colston comes the closest with 11. Kamara had 16 rushing TDs one season and he had to get 6 in one game to reach that.

I'm just saying don't downplay Graham's role on this team. His production was regularly up there with the best receivers in the league, much less the best TE's in the league. Should he have been paid fairly for it. Probably.

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Drew and Payton's offense were a large factor for his success

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Sure were. But think about this, have we had a TE since Jimmy that can even touch his jock strap? I'd say that being a factor in each other's success was reciprocal.

I’m not sure why this is what you remember? He held out because he played out wide kore so than in a traditional role. They went to arbitration over it, there was some small drama but in the end he signed an extension with the saints. He played a year under that contract. He didn’t leave or get traded because he was being a “shite”. They traded him because the team got an offer for him they didn’t want to pass up. Unger and a 1st rounder was why he was traded. It’s weird how saints fans remember things.

Yah you do. When you go 7-9 and have financial limitations and one of the worst defenses in the league. He was the only player we had worth a large package. They got an all pro center and a first round pick, we weren’t a good team at the time we traded Jimmy. I’m sure those contract negotiations weren’t fun but that is the reason they traded him.