Baltimore Ravens May Be in on TE Jimmy Graham
By Ben Palmer
The Baltimore Ravens may be in on tight end Jimmy Graham, who is expected to leave the Seattle Seahawks for free agency this offseason.
The Baltimore Ravens may be in on tight end Jimmy Graham, who is expected to leave the Seattle Seahawks for free agency this offseason, according to the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec on Twitter.
According to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, a number of teams will be interested in Graham, including his former team, the New Orleans Saints.
The Baltimore Ravens will be losing two of their tight ends to free agency this offseason, as both Benjamin Watson and Crockett Gillmore will be unrestricted free agents once free agency begins on March 14. For his part, Gillmore has said he will be moving to the offensive line, away from the tight end position.
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Jimmy Graham would be a perfect fit for the Baltimore Ravens, one of the more pass-happy teams towards the tight end position in football. In the past, Joe Flacco has shown to have a solid connection with players like Watson, Gillmore, and Dennis Pitta.
The Ravens could also really use a solid red zone target, and that’s exactly what Graham is. At 6’7″, 265 pounds, Graham makes for a gigantic target in the red zone, as evidenced by the fact that he’s had double-digit touchdowns in four of his eight seasons in the NFL.
The Ravens, on the other hand, have only ever had two players in team history catch double-digit touchdowns. Michael Jackson did it in 1996 with 14 touchdowns and Torrey Smith did it in 2014 with 11 touchdowns.
Certainly there is concern with the fact that Graham is 31-years-old and has had some injury problems in the past, but he should still be a solid player. Last year with the Seahawks, Graham had his worst season since his rookie year, ending the year with 57 catches for 520 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Given the year that Graham had last season, his market value shouldn’t be too rich for the Baltimore Ravens, who will be bottom-six in the NFL in salary cap space.
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If they can afford him, Jimmy Graham would be an excellent addition to the Ravens’ passing attack and would go a long way to injecting some life back into the passing game.