More than a few Chicago Bears fans and media were aghast when it was announced that the team had signed tight end Jimmy Graham to a two-year deal for $16 million. Even after learning it was a basically a one-year deal for $9 million, they still couldn’t understand how GM Ryan Pace convinced himself to pay that kind of money to a 33-year old player coming off the lowest production of his career in 2019.
For his part, Graham seems fully prepared to show everybody that how things ended in Green Bay wasn’t his fault. That it was more about their style of offense. One that didn’t seem to feature the tight end much. With a knee injury that has hampered him finally healthy, he feels better than he has in a long time. He’s still a big target and can still run.
One NFL exec told Mike Sando of The Athletic that there was evidence of this in the playoffs back in January. If that is the Graham the Bears are getting, the money isn’t a big deal.
“People are making a big deal about Jimmy Graham because they are not happy with how much money he received, but he had a great game against Seattle in the playoffs, was all over the field,” an evaluator said. “If you get from Jimmy Graham what the Packers got from him in the playoffs last year, then you are getting what you wanted. Are we upset with the production that he last left us with?”
Jimmy Graham did finish 2019 on a high note
There are plenty of things that might explain why Graham’s production was down in 2019. It was a brand new offense. One he hadn’t signed with the team to play in. He also reportedly battled a groin issue early in the year, which might’ve explained his slow start. It was also about Aaron Rodgers looking his way. In the first eight games, Graham was targeted 33 times. Over the next seven, it reduced to just 20.
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Not until the end of the year and going into the playoffs did Green Bay start to finally use him more. Graham was targeted 16 times in his final three games, going for 157 yards on 11 catches. Averaged out to a full 16-game season, that would’ve been 837 yards. Far better than anything the Bears have had at the tight end position in years. So what the executive said was correct. If that’s the Graham the Bears are getting for 2020, then the price paid is worth it.
