soulman Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 (edited) Chicago Bears (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) Chicago Bears: Is Jimmy Graham on his way out the door? by Rob Schwarz Jr 1 hour ago Follow @ChiRuxinBGO https://beargoggleson.com/2021/05/22/chicago-bears-jimmy-graham-cut-rumors/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email The Chicago Bears seem to have made enough room within their salary cap budget to be done making moves in 2021. Once Charles Leno comes off the books after June 1st, the team should have just enough to sign their rookie class. It seems, however, that Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears might not be completely done making moves though. Although this is all pure speculation and we cannot find any substantiated sources agreeing with this rumor, it appears that Jimmy Graham might be on his way out the door. We need to realize that Jimmy Graham was always a potential cap casualty. We had him pegged along with Akiem Hicks and Charles Leno as potential cost-cutting moves this offseason. We also made mention of moving or restructuring Kyle Fuller’s contract, but instead, he became a cap-casualty as well. Seeing Kmet take over the lead tight end snaps last year made it even more clear that Jimmy Graham’s time in Chicago was and still could be limited. The hate for the Chicago Bears signing Jimmy Graham proved to be unwarranted Jimmy Graham signed a two-year $16 million dollar contract last offseason. The deal was worth $9 million guaranteed and fans went crazy about how much of an overpay Graham was last year. When you break down his contract, last year it was honestly not bad at all. Plus, the team had an out this year if they wanted to take it, saving a total of $7 million dollars. Right now, it appears the team wants him to take a pay cut. Not sure if he will or not, but it could lead to him heading out the door. The Chicago Bears would literally have Cole Kmet as the only option at tight end. Yes, there are other names, some popular among fans, in Jesper Horsted and J.P. Holtz. However, if the team is counting on either of them this season, then we should not expect much production out of the position. Jimmy Graham contributed early in 2020 and he contributed big time in the red zone. He finished the year with 76 targets, 50 catches, 456 yards and eight touchdowns. Add in Cole Kmet’s numbers and the two combined for 699 yards and 10 touchdowns. Their combined stats gave the Chicago Bears a top-5 tight end in regards to production, while Jimmy Graham came in as the 10th best tight end in the NFL on his own last year. At this point, I think the team would like to keep Jimmy Graham and the hope here is that he continues to help Cole Kmet grow and develop. Graham was a crucial part in the reason why Russell Wilson named the Bears as a team he’d be open to moving onto should the Seahawks agree to trade him. Wilson and Graham are good friends and Graham seems to like the culture here in Chicago. The question is, will that culture be good enough to take a pay cut or will the Bears cave and just keep paying Jimmy Graham for his final year of services? Edited May 22, 2021 by soulman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted May 22, 2021 Author Share Posted May 22, 2021 With an offense struggling to score and the move TE position a key factor in the offense it seems kind of unlikely they'd release a guy who hung 8 scores on the board last year when we have no obvious replacement. Be nice if he took a pay cut but what leverage do we have other than releasing him if he won't? So.....how does the forum read this? Should Graham be released if he refuses a pay cut? Or, is this just a seasonal click bait rumor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 49 minutes ago, soulman said: So.....how does the forum read this? Should Graham be released if he refuses a pay cut? Or, is this just a seasonal click bait rumor? It can't be judged as "only" a rumor. I don't think, anyway. If they can't manage a long-term extension for Robinson, then you have to think they'd turn to Graham's contract before Hicks'. Even though that might cripple that position group in the short term. Most folks here hate Graham to the degree they even refuse to acknowledge he was a good contributor last year. I'm not one of those folks. I hope they figure out a way to keep him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmike90 Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 I think it came down to Graham or Fuller to balance the books in terms of the cap...releasing any offensive piece right now with a rookie QB potentially starting would be a bad move...especially a massive target at TE. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Madmike90 said: I think it came down to Graham or Fuller to balance the books in terms of the cap...releasing any offensive piece right now with a rookie QB potentially starting would be a bad move...especially a massive target at TE. Well, it wouldn't be ideal, that's for sure. They could get a filler piece, or two, if they did release Graham. But that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bfan Posted May 22, 2021 Share Posted May 22, 2021 (edited) Interesting, I just read a piece about how Graham had more production than all six 2019 TEs combined last year. Isn't the only TE around that wasn't named Graham or part of the nothing burger that was 2019 TE room that is still around is Kmet. Seems like it would be a bad idea to get rid of Graham. Edited May 22, 2021 by Bfan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 1 hour ago, Bfan said: Seems like it would be a bad idea to get rid of Graham. I would think so too. I believe he proved last season that he's far from a broken down shell of his old self and other than Kmet whose a "Y" TE we have no one anywhere near Graham's size and experience as a red zone target where he was quite effective last year. Further more I believe that if we'd plan to release him it would have come before now AND we didn't add anyone in the draft or FA who plays his position. We aren't exactly flush with TEs this year so if we release him we'd still have to replace him.....but with who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 I'd have rather lost Graham rather than Fuller but at this point who do you replace him with? Burton? Eifert? Graham has been healthy at least and already knows the offense. Justice him the TE2 and try to get Fields and Kmet familiar with each other. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Graham makes too much money. But we don’t have any depth. They kind of stuck themselves between a rock and a hard place. If you cut him and put the money towards a better player like Steven Nelson, Morgan Moses or Zach Ertz, I could understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 The problem is Graham is pretty limited. His blocking is terrible and he is slow now, he is really not worth playing outside of the redzone. 7 million is a lot for a redzone only player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Sugashane said: I'd have rather lost Graham rather than Fuller but at this point who do you replace him with? Burton? Eifert? Fuller would have been on the books for over twice what Graham makes. Not sure what you're getting at, there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 9 hours ago, Heinz D. said: Fuller would have been on the books for over twice what Graham makes. Not sure what you're getting at, there. The savings was very similar. I am just surprised they didn’t make a TE move to give themselves some options. Now the options are Jesse James Tyler Eifert Richard Rodgers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 1 hour ago, WindyCity said: I am just surprised they didn’t make a TE move to give themselves some options. That is weird, yeah... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted May 23, 2021 Share Posted May 23, 2021 Does cutting Jimmy Graham help Justin Fields? No. Does having 7 million sitting on the bench for most of the game help the Bears? No. Hard spot to be in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulman Posted May 23, 2021 Author Share Posted May 23, 2021 22 hours ago, soulman said: He finished the year with 76 targets, 50 catches, 456 yards and eight touchdowns. 13 minutes ago, WindyCity said: Does cutting Jimmy Graham help Justin Fields? No. Does having 7 million sitting on the bench for most of the game help the Bears? No. Hard spot to be in. Jeezus Windy 50 catches for 456 yards on 76 targets and 8 TDs is hardly "sitting on the bench most of the game". Mooney only had 11 more catches and half as many TDs so I'd say JG produced what he was paid to produce. 14 hours ago, WindyCity said: If you cut him and put the money towards a better player like Steven Nelson, Morgan Moses or Zach Ertz, I could understand. Nelson would be a nice addition but is he anywhere near as affordable as Trufant was? He's coming off a deal that paid him $8.5 mil APY and may still be unsigned because he's looking for that much or more and a longer term deal. Pitt released him for cap reasons just as we did with Fuller. Seems to me we're looking for less costly help at CB coming from our draftees and FA signings not a pricey FA. Moses is a RT. We already have Ifedi signed to play RT and a another RT in Wilkinson plus a rookie in Borom. Ertz is still under contract in Philly so that would have to be a trade deal unless they release him which is unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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