Many will look back at the 2024 season of the New Orleans Saints and hope that a new coaching staff and potentially better luck when it comes to staying healthy could propel the Saints to the postseason for the first time since 2020, but this post looks back even further. Specifically, twice as far back all the way to 2015 when Mickey Loomis and John Schneider shocked the NFL world by trading Pro Bowl players.
Original terms of the Jimmy Graham trade
- Saints receive: Max Unger and a 2015 first-round pick (31st overall)
- Seahawks receive: Jimmy Graham and a 2015 fourth-round pick (112th overall)
Who did the Saints select with the pick from the Jimmy Graham trade?
The first-round selection that New Orleans received was pick 31, which they used to draft linebacker Stephone Anthony out of Clemson. A gifted athlete, Anthony stepped in and started right away for defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, leading the Saints in tackles as a rookie.
However, Ryan was fired midseason thanks to a defensive performance that was historic in its ineptitude, with Dennis Allen taking over as defensive coordinator for 2016. With the change in coordinators came a schematic change that led to a stark decrease in playing time for Anthony, who started just three games in his second season in the NFL before being traded to the Miami Dolphins for a fifth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. (The Saints traded that pick as part of a first-round package with the Green Bay Packers.)
What did the Seahawks do with the pick from the Jimmy Graham trade?
The draft pick Seattle received was selection 112, a fourth-round pick which Seahawks general manager John Schneider packaged with three other picks to move up 26 spots in the third round in order to select wide receiver Tyler Lockett.
How was Jimmy Graham’s performance for Seattle?
Graham appeared to just be getting comfortable in the Seahawks offense in 2015 when a torn patellar tendon brought his season to a screeching halt after recording 48 catches for 605 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He returned from injury to post productive 2016 and 2017 campaigns, with 1443 yards and 16 touchdowns, giving him ownership of Seahawks franchise records for both receiving yards and touchdowns by a tight end. That probably says more about the history of tight ends in Seattle than it does about Graham, as that production comes in far below the standards he had set in New Orleans.
After two seasons on the Packers and two with the Bears, Graham rejoined the Saints for one final season in 2023 after spending 2022 out of football.
How was Max Unger’s performance for New Orleans?
Unger was a two-time Pro Bowl center who had struggled to stay healthy during his time in Seattle, missing 29 games over the five seasons prior to the trade. In New Orleans he missed just a single start in four years and was selected to the Pro Bowl one final time before opting to retire after the 2018 campaign.
Who won the Jimmy Graham trade between the Saints and Seahawks?
Even though Graham may hold most receiving records for Seahawks tight ends, with the way the practice time restrictions of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement transformed competent offensive linemen into a rarity, the value of four seasons of play from an above-average starter is difficult to quantify.
That said, the size of the hole left in the center of the Seattle offensive line is also hard to quantify, as the Seahawks continue to look for a center, having started the likes of Drew Nowak, Justin Britt, Olu Oluwatimi, Kyle Fuller, Evan Brown, Austin Blythe, Ethan Pocic, Joey Hunt and others at the position in the decade since.
