Things got weird between the Saints and tight end Jimmy Graham this offseason but everything has been smoothed over now that Graham has a new deal, writes Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. “Look, one of the best phone calls of the summer was he and I having a chance to visit the day of [the signing] and just touch base and kind of get moving towards this training camp,” said coach Sean Payton. Payton went on to praise Graham and his agent Jimmy Sexton for the way they handled the process, an unusual series of events that included an arbitration hearing to determine whether Graham should be considered a tight end or wide receiver for franchise tag purposes. Here’s more from around the NFL..
- The Lions are not optimistic about signing Ndamukong Suh to a new contract, tweets Chris Mortensen of ESPN. Suh enters camp counting $22.4MM against the Lions’ salary cap and Detroit had hoped to gain some cap flexibility in a new deal.
- Marshawn Lynch is holding out for more money from the Seahawks a day after Jamaal Charles reworked his deal with the Chiefs, but it’s hard to compare the two situations, writes Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap. For starters, Charles was quite underpaid while Lynch’s deal put him amongst the top five backs in the league. While its understandable that Lynch is holding out, Fitzgerald concludes that Charles was far more deserving of the raise he received.
- Jaguars owner Shad Khan says that he won’t be releasing Justin Blackmon after his latest arrest, but Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com says they should take a stand and do it. The wide receiver isn’t being paid and doesn’t count against the salary cap or roster limit, but releasing him would send a message to the rest of the team that his type of behavior will not be accepted.