HEADLINES

Shayne Graham

Saints Release Shayne Graham

May 19th, 2015 at 2:15pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints announced that they have released kicker Shayne Graham. In a related move, wide receiver Lance Lewis has been added to the roster.

Graham is a 15-year NFL veteran who first joined New Orleans as a UDFA in 2000. The 37-year-old, who has played for nine clubs in total, ranks seventh in NFL record books in field goal accuracy (85.5%), having nailed 266-of-311 career attempts. Overall, in 173 games, he has scored 1,219 points, tied for 35th in NFL history. Last year, Graham connected on 19-of-22 field goal attempts and finished as the club’s leading scorer with 103 points.

Lewis, 27 in November, spent all of last season on the 49ers’ taxi squad. Originally signed by Washington as a UDFA in 2012, the East Carolina product appeared in three games for the club in 2013.

FA Notes: Fairley, Cowboys, Saints, Eagles

February 14th, 2015 at 12:42pm CST by Ben Levine

Following news that Nick Fairley was cleared of his DUI charge, the Lions defensive tackle made it clear that he wants to stay in Detroit longterm.

“I love Detroit, to be honest,” Fairley said (via Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press). “I feel the city, the people in it. I love the atmosphere of basically the hard work that they bring. I’m just all work, and that’s definitely the vibe I get from the city, and I like it.”

The former first-rounder struggled through a knee injury in 2014, finishing with career-lows in tackles (eight) and sacks (one).

Let’s take a look at some more notes regarding this year’s free agent class…

 

Saints Re-Sign Shayne Graham

February 14th, 2015 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

SATURDAY, 10:20am: Graham will earn $970K next season, the minimum value for his service time, according to Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com (via Twitter).

THURSDAY, 5:58pm: The Saints announced that Graham’s deal has been signed.

3:50pm: Having reportedly reached a deal to re-sign free agent linebacker Parys Haralson earlier today, the Saints have struck an agreement to bring back another one of their pending free agents, according to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports. Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that New Orleans has re-signed kicker Shayne Graham to a one-year contract.

Graham, 37, was solid, albeit unspectacular, in assuming full-time kicking duties for the Saints in 2014. Asked to attempt just 22 field goals, Graham made 19 of them, for an 86.4% success rate, and didn’t miss any from inside 40 yards. The 14-year veteran also made 46 of 47 extra points, and deferred to punter Thomas Morstead for kickoffs.

When I examined potential franchise tag candidates for the Saints last week, I identified Graham as perhaps the only viable option, but didn’t view it as a realistic possibility. As I noted at the time, Graham’s performance in 2014 didn’t warrant paying him like a top kicker in the NFL. While financial terms of his new deal have yet to be reported, I’d expect the Virginia Tech product will either be in line for another minimum salary contract, or a salary only slightly north of that.

Saints Work Out Three Kickers

December 10th, 2014 at 6:36pm CST by Ben Levine

The Saints were busy yesterday, waiving wide receiver Joe Morgan and demoting safety Kenny Vaccaro. Their efforts to turn around the season continued today, as the team worked out a trio of kickers: Garrett Hartley (via Adam Schefter), Zach Hocker (via Ramon Antonio Vargas) and Derek Dimke (via Mike Triplett). The team ultimately decided to stick with incumbent Shayne Graham, but Triplett notes that the situation could easily change.

Graham has been solid for the Saints this season, successfully converting 18 of his 20 field goal attempts and 37 of his 38 extra point opportunities. However, the 12-year veteran is not rated favorably by Pro Football Focus’ advanced statistics (subscription required), as he ranks 42nd among 52 candidates. The 37-year-old was a model of consistency during his tenure with the Bengals, but he’s on pace to make 16 appearances for only the second time since 2009.

Hartley, who played for the Saints from 2008-2013, was replaced by Graham late last season. The 28-year-old, who won a Super Bowl as New Orleans’ kicker, converted 22 of his 30 field goal attempts in 2013. Hocker, a seventh-round pick in this past year’s draft, was cut by Washington during the team’s final roster cuts. Dimke, an undrafted free agent in 2012, spent time with the Saints during the preseason.

While Graham has been consistent kicking field goals of less than 50 yards (he’s connected on 64 of 69 chances since 2010), his longer attempts have been more erratic (five of 10 over that same span). Meanwhile, the three other kickers have converted 13 of their 17 attempts since 2010 (including college), perhaps indicating that the organization is seeking someone they could rely on from further out.

Saints Re-Sign Shayne Graham

September 2nd, 2014 at 5:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Saints have added a new kicker to their roster, and he looks an awful lot like the one the team cut over the weekend. Per Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate (via Twitter), the Saints have re-signed Shayne Graham, just three days after releasing him.

The series of moves seemed to suggest that Graham was the player the Saints’ had in mind all along for their kicking job, and that the team wanted to wait until today to re-add him to the roster in order to move a player to the injured reserve list with a designation to return. However, the corresponding roster move for New Orleans involved waiving quarterback Ryan Griffin, as Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets.

During a two-game regular season stretch last season with New Orleans, Graham was perfect, converting both of his field goal attempts and all seven of his extra point tries. He also didn’t miss a kick in the postseason, making four field goals in the team’s Wild Card win over the Eagles.

Saints Cut Shayne Graham, Others

August 30th, 2014 at 5:30pm CST by Luke Adams

5:30pm: The Saints have been busy this afternoon, notably letting go of veterans Champ Bailey and Robert Meachem. The team officially announced their moves via a press release, and the team’s transactions that were not previously reported are below:

Waived:

  • Matt Armstrong, C
  • Todd Davis, ILB
  • Derek Dimke, K
  • Nic Jacobs, TE
  • Tavon Rooks, OT
  • Pierre Warren, S

Released:

2:00pm: The Saints began the process of cutting their roster down to 53 players yesterday when they released fullback Greg Jones, and the team has made plenty more moves today. Here’s the list of players no longer on New Orleans’ active roster:

Saints Notes: Roster Moves, Goodwin, Griffin

August 25th, 2014 at 9:52pm CST by Rory Parks

There are a few Saints-related items to pass along this evening:

Roster Moves

  • The team has released LB Victor Butler, tweets Kristian Garic of WWL 870am., thereby saving $1.5MM in cap space. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com was trying to confirm the release as of the time of this post.
  • The Saints have informed OL Manase Foketi that he will be waived, tweets Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune.

Other notes

  • Woodbery writes that the team’s kicking competition between Shayne Graham and Derek Dimke has not been decided, and head coach Sean Payton said that the battle will go down to the wire.
  • In a separate piece, Woodbery breaks down how the new practice squad rules affect different members of the Saints’ roster.
  • Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune believes the Saints’ center battle is over and that Jonathan Goodwin has earned the starting job over Tim Lelito.
  • In the same piece, Holder writes that it is “increasingly evident” that the Saints will open the season with three quarterbacks. Even though Ryan Griffin has outperformed Luke McCown, the team does not appear ready to part with McCown, who has worked with the first-team offense in every preseason game thus far. Payton said that Griffin will see “plenty of action” in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Ravens.

Saints Re-Sign Shayne Graham, Bryce Harris

February 14th, 2014 at 11:12pm CST by Matt Feminis

In addition to the re-signing of exclusive rights free agent Trevin Wade, the Saints have re-signed placekicker Shayne Graham and offensive tackle Bryce Harris, according to Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate.

Graham signed a one-year deal for $955K. The 36-year-old replaced Garrett Hartley in December, going 6-for-6 on field goals in the final two regular season games and wild-card win over Philadelphia before missing from 45 and 47 yards in a divisional round loss to Seattle.

Harris, an ERFA like Wade, signed a one-year, $570K tender after playing in all 16 regular season games, including one start at right tackle. Harris provides depth as a swing tackle, “jumbo” blocker and special-teams contributor.