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Chicago Bears Sign Veteran Tight End Jimmy Graham to 2 Year Contract

Introduction

Chicago Bears Sign Veteran Tight End Jimmy Graham to 2 Year Contract

The Chicago Bears have reportedly agreed to terms to sign veteran superstar tight end, Jimmy Graham, to a 2 year contract worth up to $16 million. This new deal includes $9 million in guaranteed money as well. Although he is a tight end, he plays the position more like a wide receiver, and he is known to be a reliable pass catcher who contributes enormous offensive production for his former teams including the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Green Bay Packers.

After two seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Graham was released by the Packers on March 12th, 2020 ultimately resulting in him becoming an unrestricted free agent entering the upcoming 2020 – 2021 NFL season. Prior to Green Bay releasing the North Carolina native he was the highest paid tight end in the National Football League as he was averaging $10 million annually.

For this upcoming NFL season his previous contract would have him taking up the second most salary cap space for a tight end in the league at $11,666,668. Behind only the great Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles who demands $12.232 million in cap space for the 2020 – 2021 NFL season. Although Graham’s numbers indicate his production has been decreasing over the last few seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the 33 year old crafty veteran is still known as one of the most valuable tight ends in the National Football League.

The Chicago Bears are hoping he can have a bounce back season similar to his time with the Seattle Seahawks or when he was at his best playing for the Drew Brees led New Orleans Saints. According to ESPN, “Graham is the only tight end in NFL history to have two seasons with 1,200-plus receiving yards and 10-plus receiving touchdowns (2011, 2013 with the New Orleans Saints), and he is the only tight end to register four consecutive seasons with 85-plus catches (2011-14, all with the Saints).”

In all honesty the Chicago Bears would be highly satisfied with approximately 60 to 70 percent of those numbers above. Especially coming off an extremely rough 2019 – 2020 NFL season where the Bears offense struggled to put points up on the board. Graham should help with his leadership in the locker room as well. He is a cagey veteran player who has been on some very successful teams over the course of his illustrious career so he knows what it takes to win. I am excited to see him hopefully have a career come back year and help the Chicago Bears make it back to the NFL postseason.

Graham's NFL Career Statistics

Receiving and Rushing

          Games   Receiving                     Rushing               Total Yds          
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD 1D Lng R/G Y/G Ctch% Y/Tgt Rush Yds TD 1D Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Touch Y/Tch YScm RRTD Fmb AV
2010 24 NOR te 80 15 5 44 31 356 11.5 5 21 52 2.1 23.7 70.50% 8.1 1 3 0 1 3 3 0.2 0.1 32 11.2 359 5 1 3
2011* 25 NOR TE 80 16 11 149 99 1310 13.2 11 74 59 6.2 81.9 66.40% 8.8                 99 13.2 1310 11 1 13
2012 26 NOR TE 80 15 9 135 85 982 11.6 9 59 46 5.7 65.5 63.00% 7.3                 85 11.6 982 9 1 8
2013*+ 27 NOR TE/wr 80 16 12 142 86 1215 14.1 16 61 56 5.4 75.9 60.60% 8.6                 86 14.1 1215 16 0 11
2014* 28 NOR TE 80 16 13 125 85 889 10.5 10 54 29 5.3 55.6 68.00% 7.1                 85 10.5 889 10 2 8
2015 29 SEA TE 88 11 11 74 48 605 12.6 2 29 45 4.4 55 64.90% 8.2                 48 12.6 605 2 0 6
2016* 30 SEA TE 88 16 15 95 65 923 14.2 6 45 42 4.1 57.7 68.40% 9.7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 66 14 923 6 2 8
2017* 31 SEA TE 88 16 13 96 57 520 9.1 10 34 33 3.6 32.5 59.40% 5.4                 57 9.1 520 10 0 4
2018 32 GNB TE 80 16 12 89 55 636 11.6 2 32 54 3.4 39.8 61.80% 7.1                 55 11.6 636 2 0 5
2019 33 GNB TE 80 16 10 60 38 447 11.8 3 23 48 2.4 27.9 63.30% 7.5                 38 11.8 447 3 1 4
Career         153 111 1009 649 7883 12.1 74 432 59 4.2 51.5 64.30% 7.8 2 3 0 1 3 1.5 0 0 651 12.1 7886 74 8 70
5 yrs   NOR     78 50 595 386 4752 12.3 51 269 59 4.9 60.9 64.90% 8 1 3 0 1 3 3 0 0 387 12.3 4755 51 5 43
3 yrs   SEA     43 39 265 170 2048 12 18 108 45 4 47.6 64.20% 7.7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 171 12 2048 18 2 18
2 yrs   GNB     32 22 149 93 1083 11.6 5 55 54 2.9 33.8 62.40% 7.3                 93 11.6 1083 5 1 9

Advanced Receiving and Rushing

          Games   Receiving                       Rushing                
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Tgt Rec Yds 1D YBC YBC/R YAC YAC/R BrkTkl Rec/Br Drop Drop% Rush Yds 1D YBC YBC/Att YAC YAC/Att BrkTkl Att/Br
2018 32 GNB TE 80 16 12 89 55 636 32 375 6.8 261 4.7 2 27.5 3 3.4 0 0 0 0   0   0  
2019 33 GNB TE 80 16 10 60 38 447 23 204 5.4 243 6.4 2 19 2 3.3 0 0 0 0   0   0  

Playoffs Receiving and Rushing

        Games   Receiving                     Rushing               Total Yds        
Year Age Tm Pos G GS Tgt Rec Yds Y/R TD 1D Lng R/G Y/G Ctch% Y/Tgt Rush Yds TD 1D Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Touch Y/Tch YScm RRTD Fmb
2011* 25 NOR TE 2 2 19 12 158 13.2 3 8 66 6 79 63.20% 8.3                 12 13.2 158 3 0
2013*+ 27 NOR TE 2 1 10 4 52 13 0 2 21 2 26 40.00% 5.2                 4 13 52 0 0
2016* 30 SEA TE 2 2 7 6 59 9.8 1 4 14 3 29.5 85.70% 8.4                 6 9.8 59 1 0
2019 33 GNB TE 2 1 9 7 108 15.4 0 4 42 3.5 54 77.80% 12                 7 15.4 108 0 0
Career       8 6 45 29 377 13 4 18 66 3.6 47.1 64.40% 8.4                 29 13 377 4 0
2 yrs   NOR   4 3 29 16 210 13.1 3   66 4 52.5 55.20% 7.2                 16 13.1 210 3 0
1 yr   GNB   2 1 9 7 108 15.4 0   42 3.5 54 77.80% 12                 7 15.4 108 0 0
1 yr   SEA   2 2 7 6 59 9.8 1   14 3 29.5 85.70% 8.4                 6 9.8 59 1 0

Defense and Fumbles

          Games   Def Interceptions         Fumbles           Tackles          
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Sk Comb Solo Ast TFL QBHits Sfty
2010 24 NOR te 80 15 5           0 1 1 20 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  
2011* 25 NOR TE 80 16 11           0 1 0 0 0 0            
2012 26 NOR TE 80 15 9           0 1 2 0 0 0            
2013*+ 27 NOR TE/wr 80 16 12           0 0 1 -2 0 0            
2014* 28 NOR TE 80 16 13           1 2 0 0 0 0            
2016* 30 SEA TE 88 16 15           0 2 0 0 0 0            
2019 33 GNB TE 80 16 10           0 1 0 0 0 0            
Career         153 111           1 8 4 18 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  
5 yrs   NOR     78 50           1 5 4 18 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  
3 yrs   SEA     43 39           0 2 0 0 0 0            
2 yrs   GNB     32 22           0 1 0 0 0 0            

Scoring Summary

Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM 2PA XPM XPA FGM FGA Sfty Pts Pts/G
2010 24 NOR te 80 15 5   5           5               30  
2011* 25 NOR TE 80 16 11   11           11               66  
2012 26 NOR TE 80 15 9   9           9               54  
2013*+ 27 NOR TE/wr 80 16 12   16           16               96  
2014* 28 NOR TE 80 16 13   10           10               60  
2015 29 SEA TE 88 11 11   2           2               12  
2016* 30 SEA TE 88 16 15   6           6               36  
2017* 31 SEA TE 88 16 13   10           10 1             62  
2018 32 GNB TE 80 16 12   2           2               12  
2019 33 GNB TE 80 16 10   3           3               18  
Career         153 111   74           74 1             446  
5 yrs   NOR     78 50   51           51               306  
3 yrs   SEA     43 39   18           18 1             110  
2 yrs   GNB     32 22   5           5               30  

Playoff Scoring Summary

Year Age Tm Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD AllTD 2PM 2PA XPM XPA FGM FGA Sfty Pts Pts/G
2011* 25 NOR TE 2 2   3           3               18  
2016* 30 SEA TE 2 2   1           1               6  
Career       8 6   4           4               24  
2 yrs   NOR   4 3   3           3               18  
1 yr   SEA   2 2   1           1               6  

Snap Counts

          Games   Off.   Def.   ST  
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct
2012 26 NOR TE 80 15 9 695 63% 0 0% 65 13%
2013*+ 27 NOR TE/wr 80 16 12 754 67% 3 0% 16 4%
2014* 28 NOR TE 80 16 13 774 68% 0 0% 9 2%
2015 29 SEA TE 88 11 11 569 53% 0 0% 15 3%
2016* 30 SEA TE 88 16 15 790 75% 0 0% 5 1%
2017* 31 SEA TE 88 16 13 729 68% 0 0% 11 2%
2018 32 GNB TE 80 16 12 795 74% 0 0% 0 0%
2019 33 GNB TE 80 16 10 622 58% 0 0% 4 1%
Career             5728   3   125  
3 yrs   NOR     47 34 2223   3   90  
3 yrs   SEA     43 39 2088   0   31  
2 yrs   GNB     32 22 1417   0   4  

Sources:

“Jimmy Graham goes to Chicago for 2 years, $16M”, espn.com, March 16, 2020.

“Jimmy Graham”, pro-football-reference.com, March 16, 2020.

Written by: David Green