Bears sign TE Jimmy Graham to 2yr, $16M deal

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Moriarty wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2020 3:16 pm
cblaz11 wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:12 pm What’s a measure of success for Graham? In other words, what does he need to do numbers wise to justify his deal?

50 receptions, 500-600 yards, 5 TDs?
50/600/5
sounds like a good bar

However, what if Burton is totally and completely fine and gets most of the playing time?
(Yes, they play 2 TE sets sometimes, but I don't think it's all that high %. I'd be shocked if it's 50%+.)

Wasted $ or any insurance policy you had to have?
I think if they had two good TEs you'd see that 12 or 22 personnel get a big bump from the past 2 years.
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Moriarty wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2020 3:16 pm
cblaz11 wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2020 6:12 pm What’s a measure of success for Graham? In other words, what does he need to do numbers wise to justify his deal?

50 receptions, 500-600 yards, 5 TDs?
50/600/5
sounds like a good bar

However, what if Burton is totally and completely fine and gets most of the playing time?
(Yes, they play 2 TE sets sometimes, but I don't think it's all that high %. I'd be shocked if it's 50%+.)

Wasted $ or any insurance policy you had to have?
I don't think we gave $9M guaranteed to Graham to not be featured. I could see some 12 personnel, I could see Burton used as an H-Back, etc.
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Chris Emma

@CEmma670:
Jimmy Graham: "Chicago deserves a Super Bowl. They haven't had one since 1985. Now is the time, with the kind of team that Ryan Pace has built. ... That's why I wanted to be in Chicago."
So I guess Jimmy sees us as having a two year window. ;)
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And his wanting to be here had nothing to do with $9m guaranteed and the possibility of another $7m more. ;)
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HisRoyalSweetness wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2020 1:10 pm And his wanting to be here had nothing to do with $9m guaranteed and the possibility of another $7m more. ;)
Nope. None at all. He's here to win a Super Bowl goddammit. :D
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The Grizzly One wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2020 3:22 pm
Yogi da Bear wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2020 2:51 pm You know, one thing to consider with this contract--as many have noted, "he's already the best TE on our roster," but not only that, he's also the best TE we could get from the draft, at least from a receiving and ready to play standpoint.
Great points Yogi. Maybe the money is too high. But none of the other FA TE signing are better IMO.

As far as Burton. I think it's time to stick a fork in him. Don't know what happened, but the dude has clearly lost his mental ability to play in the NFL.
I don’t think people understand the severity of sports hernias. They’re not like a typical hernia. It is at the core of your upper and lower body core strength. Other muscles start to compensate and tighten up, throwing off the entire balance of how your muscles interact with one another. And recovery depends on the severity of the sports hernia. So it’s not just Burton “being a head case.” Evidently it is common for guys who have sports hernias to experience physical, emotional, and psychological trauma in the rehab process especially when there is pressure and expectations from their peers to rehab quickly.

I remember Donovan Mc Nabb speaking about this as well during his sports hernia problem. Some guys rehab quickly. Some don’t. Again it depends on the severity or maybe just the individual person’s ability to heal.

I’d say if Burton doesn’t show up this year, he may be done. But I’m willing to chalk up last year as just a really tough rehab situation.
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My innate homerism really kicked in this weekend for some reason. This whole 'stay at home' shit is starting to drive me a little nutty, I actually watched a couple Bears games on replay yesterday LMAO!!

Anyhow, my homerism while watching those games really kinda took over and I found myself thinking "holy shit, if both Burton and Graham were out there this would be a totally different game". Our TE's just couldn't do anything out there, and panicked Mitch looked like he needed a safety blanket - which two TE's would give him on every friggin play. We never seemed to use the middle of the field!

It's really amazing when you watch these games dispassionately...how close they usually are, even the ones where the final score isn't all that close you can typically see a short stretch of bad plays where it goes wrong otherwise it's fairly even.

My main takeaways were....Mitch will benefit GREATLY from Graham/Burton being on the field, and we're so friggin close that it wouldn't take much for us to go from 8-8 to 11-5. Like, very little. Also, goddam Monty runs hard, I really like that kid.
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dplank wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:54 am My innate homerism really kicked in this weekend for some reason. This whole 'stay at home' shit is starting to drive me a little nutty, I actually watched a couple Bears games on replay yesterday LMAO!!
I think the Score was replaying some classic games this weekend
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He can be overpaid and still help
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AZ_Bearfan wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:57 pm
He looks really explosive still on these film slices.

You still look at him on a catch % and yards per reception basis. It's elite. I am not saying we're getting New Orleans Jimmy Graham. However, I do absolutely think he can still play at a high level.

I simply don't think he was utilized much in GB. That franchise has brought in big name FA after big name FA at TE. Either coming off of big seasons (Marty Bennett) or left and put up big numbers (Jared Cook).
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RichH55 wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:41 am He can be overpaid and still help
Tyler freakin Eifert who is never healthy (and not that good) got 2/15.5 from Jacksonville. Is it really that bad of a deal? Or did we all just get thrown off track by the Ebron contract? Who has character/work ethic concerns stemming from both franchises he's previously been with.
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He was paid 22 mill plus for two years in Green Bay. Tell me, when he signed that contract that there weren't any of you out there going, "Oh shit" like I was. That contract came after a season in Seattle that wasn't actually as good his first in Green Bay.

If people are upset with the current contract because of the substantial decrease between his first and second year in Green Bay, realize that that production decrease was due to a new system that emphasized check downs to RBs rather than using the TE. The decrease wasn't due to any limiting factor on Graham's part.
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:30 pm He was paid 22 mill plus for two years in Green Bay. Tell me, when he signed that contract that there weren't any of you out there going, "Oh shit" like I was. That contract came after a season in Seattle that wasn't actually as good his first in Green Bay.

If people are upset with the current contract because of the substantial decrease between his first and second year in Green Bay, realize that that production decrease was due to a new system that emphasized check downs to RBs rather than using the TE. The decrease wasn't due to any limiting factor on Graham's part.
Honestly I kinda chuckled when the Packers signed him, mistakenly thinking that the guy was made of glass and would certainly get hurt. I don't know why I had it in my head that he was a walking injury when one of his strengths appears to be quite the opposite. I had him in fantasy football a few times and for some reason thought he was always injured...d'oh. I was ticked about him signing here for that money until folks educated me on his injury history and how it was a strength and not a weakness.

He's always been a good player, even if not the same guy from the Saints. But systems matter a whole lot, and he hasn't been in a system that targeted him like he was in NO either. I think he'll get closer to that here, w/o having to take on too much because we have a TE1/1a situation if Burton is actually healthy. We're good at TE IMO.
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Richie wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:45 pm
RichH55 wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:41 am He can be overpaid and still help
Tyler freakin Eifert who is never healthy (and not that good) got 2/15.5 from Jacksonville. Is it really that bad of a deal? Or did we all just get thrown off track by the Ebron contract? Who has character/work ethic concerns stemming from both franchises he's previously been with.


Fair enough - though I'd say he's still overpaid in any scenario

I did read (but CANNOT find) that the Eifert deal had incentives built into it

EDIT: Found it

https://www.bigcatcountry.com/2020/3/30 ... s-revealed

It's much less than reported for Eifert - It can be as Low as 1 Year 3.25 million for Eifert
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:30 pm He was paid 22 mill plus for two years in Green Bay. Tell me, when he signed that contract that there weren't any of you out there going, "Oh shit" like I was. That contract came after a season in Seattle that wasn't actually as good his first in Green Bay.

If people are upset with the current contract because of the substantial decrease between his first and second year in Green Bay, realize that that production decrease was due to a new system that emphasized check downs to RBs rather than using the TE. The decrease wasn't due to any limiting factor on Graham's part.
He led all TE's in TD's his final year in Seattle and made the pro bowl. Finished pretty strong. (His 2nd to last season he led TE's in yardage, FWIW)



And yes... honestly, he was better his 2nd year in GB from an efficiency standpoint. He also made some explosive plays in the post-season as he pointed out.
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RichH55 wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:07 am
Richie wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:45 pm

Tyler freakin Eifert who is never healthy (and not that good) got 2/15.5 from Jacksonville. Is it really that bad of a deal? Or did we all just get thrown off track by the Ebron contract? Who has character/work ethic concerns stemming from both franchises he's previously been with.


Fair enough - though I'd say he's still overpaid in any scenario

I did read (but CANNOT find) that the Eifert deal had incentives built into it

EDIT: Found it

https://www.bigcatcountry.com/2020/3/30 ... s-revealed

It's much less than reported for Eifert - It can be as Low as 1 Year 3.25 million for Eifert
The out is 1 year/4.55. No? https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/jacksonvill ... ert-12301/

And Graham should be guaranteed more than Eifert. Graham has been healthy all but one half season in his career and has been a perennial pro bowler. Eifert isn't even very good when healthy and gets hurt stepping out of bed in the morning. He's a far bigger risk.
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I don't love the Graham signing, but I think people are missing the big picture. He's a one year guy who can catch and doesn't miss games.

They didn't bring him in for some career resurgence. They brought him in to be a reliable target for 16 games. He's not some final piece of the puzzle.
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wab wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:53 am I don't love the Graham signing, but I think people are missing the big picture. He's a one year guy who can catch and doesn't miss games.

They didn't bring him in for some career resurgence. They brought him in to be a reliable target for 16 games. He's not some final piece of the puzzle.
Yep, with an off chance to have two starter level tight ends if burton can get right. Vs last season with 0 starter level tight ends.

Just starter level production is going to make a dramatic level of difference.
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Richie wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:40 am
RichH55 wrote: Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:07 am



Fair enough - though I'd say he's still overpaid in any scenario

I did read (but CANNOT find) that the Eifert deal had incentives built into it

EDIT: Found it

https://www.bigcatcountry.com/2020/3/30 ... s-revealed

It's much less than reported for Eifert - It can be as Low as 1 Year 3.25 million for Eifert
The out is 1 year/4.55. No? https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/jacksonvill ... ert-12301/

And Graham should be guaranteed more than Eifert. Graham has been healthy all but one half season in his career and has been a perennial pro bowler. Eifert isn't even very good when healthy and gets hurt stepping out of bed in the morning. He's a far bigger risk.

Out (Worst Case for Jacksonville) is 1 Year 3.25 Million

There is a Per Game incentive ($1.25 Million possible). He has to actually play and be active to get that though.

3.25 Guarantee is all that is guaranteed for Eifert.

That's pretty different than $9 Million (and pretty different from 2 year 15 million that was the initial report out there)

Jimmy Graham hasn't been "Perennial Pro Bowler" Jimmy Graham for at least 3 Full Seasons BTW
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