The dust is far from settled in this Jimmy Graham trade to Seattle and we’ll not know the full impact of this trade for quite some time. The deal can only be labelled as a blockbuster move of epic proportions. It may be years until we can fully evaluate how smart or idiotic this move was. If the Seahawks goes to win a couple more Super Bowls on Jimmy’s back while turning Russell Wilson into the next Tom Brady, we’ll look back on this trade as the turning point in the Sean Payton era where it all went to hell. Or maybe that all started with the Darren Sproles trade and Jairus Byrd pick up.
If the Saints can climb their way back to the playoffs, we’ll look at this as a time when Sean Payton made a “onsides kick in the Super Bowl” type bold move to resurrect a team that was fleeting in relevance – and had it work.
Going back to my original point for a moment: Jimmy Graham is one player, as is a 4th round draft pick. For those two things – one being the best tight end and red zone threat in the game save maybe Rob Gronkowski, and an unknown player with a 30% chance of working out to be anything – the Saints received financial flexibility to add more players (in 2015 somewhat, but much moreso in 2016 and 2017), a 2 time Pro Bowl center that is a perfect scheme fit, and a 1st round pick that’s 31st overall.
Graham is a known entity when healthy, but has been banged up a good amount. His style of play requires taking numerous physical blows. Max Unger is a known entity when healthy, but he’s been banged up as well. The impact of an elite receiving tight end is likely more pronounced of an elite center, perhaps. Beyond that, the Saints have more cap space and a 1st round pick, and the Seahawks have a 4th round pick. Those all add up to a bunch of unknowns. The health of Graham and Unger moving forward are also unknowns. Based on all this, we won’t know the verdict of this trade until we look back five years from now and take stock of where the Saints and Seahawks as franchises have been and where they stand as an organization moving forward.
Any opinions beyond this are purely conjecture. The bottom line is the Saints were a 7-9 team in 2014 with a 31st overall defense. They were mediocre at best and they needed to do something significant to improve. Adding pieces here and there and hanging on to declining veterans was not going to transform this team into a Super Bowl contender. Trading Jimmy Graham won’t either overnight, of course, but it offers more reason for hope with a change of direction towards youth. As a fan, you have to appreciate a team having no fear in being bold, especially when a disastrous season calls for it.
Just hope Max Unger stays healthy and the Saints nail this 31st overall selection.