(AUDACY) In five seasons with the New Orleans Saints from 2010-'14, Jimmy Graham played in 78 games, averaged 60.9 receiving yards per game, had 51 touchdown catches, made three Pro Bowl rosters, was a first-team All-Pro and seemed to cement his path toward becoming one of the greatest tight ends of all time.
In the six years that followed, Graham averaged just 39.4 receiving yards per game, scored 31 touchdowns and has since fallen into relative obscurity in his current Chicago home. And much like Graham, the Saints' tight end position has become far less glamorous, cycling through the likes of Coby Fleener and Ben Watson.
So one is naturally left to wonder what could've been had Graham stayed with Saints star quarterback Drew Brees throughout the latter half of the 2010s. In fact, Graham asks that exact question himself, reflecting on when the Saints traded him and a fourth-rounder to the Seahawks for center Max Unger and a first-rounder in 2015.
"I don't think anybody really benefitted from the trade," Graham told Mike Triplett of ESPN. "You got a guy like Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) who's been with his quarterback his entire career in the same offense, the same scheme. So for me it's always one of those things where thinking about what could've been or what should've been with Drew is kind of the most disappointing."
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Graham even went so far as to speculate about whether the Saints would've had more playoff success if he was still on the roster, and you can't exactly fault him for that thinking. The pairing of Graham and star receiver Michael Thomas — a duo that was never able to share the field together, seeing as Thomas debuted after Graham had been traded — could've wreaked havoc all over the field for the offensive attack led by Brees.
After a long run in New England, quarterback Tom Brady and Gronkowski reunited in Tampa Bay in 2020 and helped lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title. In the Super Bowl last season, the pair hooked up for six receptions on seven targets, two of which resulted in touchdowns. And through two weeks of the 2021 season, the duo has looked just as unstoppable: 12 catches on 13 targets for 129 yards and four touchdowns. Brees may not have had the longevity that Brady has, but he was sure close, and we can only wonder what the Brees-Graham pairing may have been capable of in recent seasons.
What we don't have to wonder, however, is whether the Brady-Gronkowski show fueled Graham's motivation to produce as a top-tier tight end.
"I’ve never told anybody this," Graham told Triplett. "My first four years in the league, I actually had Gronk’s jersey hanging in my bedroom. I didn’t have a TV hanging in my room, I had Gronk’s jersey hanging in my room. Literally it was the only item I had hanging in my house. So every morning I had to wake up, and I knew that I needed to get to work.
"I would say anybody and everybody needs some kind of a rivalry at some point, at least mentally to push yourself even more. And you know Gronk has always been that for me. And that’s kind of the sad part is I wish that I would’ve kind of been able to continue to work with that (Saints) system to see maybe what could’ve happened."
Brees is of the same state of mind, saying, "I'd be lying if I didn't say I wondered what we could've been able to do together if we had the opportunity."
Of course, we'll never know. Brees is out of the league, and Graham has only seen 36 snaps and two targets through the Bears' first two games in 2021, far behind second-year tight end Cole Kmet (98 snaps, eight targets).
That doesn't mean Graham's legacy hasn't made a lasting impact on the league and on the tight end position, though, and many of his statistics still stand among the elite in the record books — with the potential to grow. Here are some notable ones (via Pro Football Reference and Stathead).
— Second-most touchdowns in a single season for a tight end (16)
— Fourth-most touchdowns in a career for a tight end (82)
— Fifth- and 10th-most receiving yards in a single season for a tight end (1,310; 1,215)
— Eighth-most receiving yards in a career for a tight end (8,350)
— 13th-most receiving yards per game for a tight end, minimum 50 games (48.8)
— Sixth-most receptions in a career for a tight end (700)
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