Contract doesn't bode well for Graham
Earnest Graham isn't a franchise back. That's what the Bucs think anyway, and they proved it by agreeing to a four-year $11 million contract this week. Okay, so Graham didn't have a lot of leverage. But he skipped voluntary work for that?
That is a backup's contract, and it will be very interesting to see how much guaranteed money is in the deal and how much money is included in the first two years. That doesn't mean Graham will be a backup to start the year, but it supports my theory that Jon Gruden isn't comfortable with Graham playing every down.
I love Graham's style of play, but I think Gruden is going to give Michael Bennett and especially Warrick Dunn more work than people expect. If I drafted Graham, it would be with the hope that Bennett and Dunn prove to be inferior options and lose favor. That's quite possible based on their play last season.
Comments
I think the report from the Tampa website is wrong. Both ESPN and NFL.com are reporting it as 3 years/10.5 mil. This is more like starters money with more guarenteed.
Posted by: CJS | June 30, 2008 12:10 PM
Actually it's a three-year, $10.5 extension and he'll still be paid his base salary this year (a little under $700,000). That makes the total deal 4 for about 11, although the way I wrote it was definitely confusing.
Posted by: gregg | June 30, 2008 12:48 PM
Gregg - you're absolutely right. Graham had NO leverage. It's kind of hard to negotiate a contract when one side holds all the aces, and all you have is a joker (Rosenhaus).
He's 28 and only started 10 or so games. The Bucs played this thing perfectly, talking up Warrick Dunn and Michael Bennett and floating stories that Caddy is rehabbing quickly. Bravo.
In the end, I don't fault Graham for taking this contract. Hopefully he has a nice signing bonus/guarenteed portion of the deal.
Now that this is done, I think Graham could be the steal of the draft, but it will be interesting to see how the workload is divided to start the year.
Posted by: theendzoneview | June 30, 2008 03:53 PM
He'll still get the bulk of the carries regardless of the pay. Only question is whether he'll be motivated since he got a contract extension. None of this changes where I slot him in the ff draft.
Posted by: b roo | June 30, 2008 06:54 PM
So, b roo, where are you slotting Graham? I'm leaning toward him being one of those "steal of the draft" type of backs if he falls into the 5th round or later in drafts. But, his downside is just enough that I don't want him earlier than that. He's an interesting player. What do you guys think?
Posted by: joshyjosh | June 30, 2008 10:04 PM
Gregg, please keep trashing Graham for agreeing to this deal, because I don't agree with your assessment (but hope my competitors do). Tampa of course wanted to pay as little as possible regardless of what role they envision for Graham. Just because they didn't throw money at him doesn't mean he won't do well -- if he plays well, he'll play a lot; if not, not.
Posted by: veggieb | July 1, 2008 11:44 AM
He's at about #20 RB for me right now.
Posted by: b roo | July 1, 2008 12:33 PM