With the July 15 deadline for the Saints and Jimmy Graham to reach a longterm contract agreement looming, the New Orleans Times-Picayune expects Graham's grievance to be heard "sooner rather than later." The paper said neither side "can saunter into this grievance process with 100 percent certainty it will exit victorious."
The Saints slapped the $7 million tight end franchise tag on Graham for 2014. He is seeking a wide receiver designation, which would pay $5.3 million more. The NFL Players Association filed a grievance on Graham's behalf Wednesday.
According to ESPN, Graham lined up wide 67 percent of the time last season. That figures to be the core of Graham's argument.