Fantasy Outlook: New Orleans Saints

(Photo Credit: Glenn Erby/AP)

In a couple weeks from now, every team will be in training camp preparing for the start of a new NFL season. With every new season comes new hope, whether it’s for a brighter future or a championship. It also means you have to start preparing for your fantasy football season. If you start preparing now then you can get ahead of the rest of your league.

New Orleans ended up finishing second in the NFC South last season with an 11-5 record. That’s really impressive. With Carolina’s awful offseason, I think the Saints are the front runners to win the division. I’ll go a little further and say they are a Super Bowl contender, but you’re always a Super Bowl contender when Drew Brees is your quarterback. Let’s take a look at New Orleans’ fantasy football impact players for the 2014 season.

All rankings for this article are used from our Fantasy Football Draft Kit.

NFC South Fantasy Outlooks:

|Atlanta Falcons|Carolina Panthers|New Orleans Saints|Tampa Bay Buccaneers|

Best Fantasy Player: Drew Brees

Drew Brees is the only QB in the league’s history to throw for 5,000 yards for three straight years. I expect Brees will do it again. Last year Brees finished second in fantasy points for quarterbacks, only behind Peyton Manning. I think Brees will be a top three quarterback this year in fantasy and I think he could possibly be an MVP candidate.

Rank: 13 (QB2)

Fantasy Impact Player: Jimmy Graham

Jimmy Graham finally settled his contract dispute with New Orleans. Graham is by far the best TE in the league and a second round pick in most fantasy drafts. Missing some offseason work won’t affect Graham at all. He’ll pick up right where he left off, except he will be much richer this year.
Rank: 15 (TE1)

Fantasy Impact Player: Marques Colston

Marques Colston seems like he has lost a little bit of speed and big play ability. These are the things that made Colston a fantasy starter week in and week out. I don’t believe that Colston was as bad as he was last year. Some lingering injuries may have been the unknown cause of his underwhelming season. That was last season, its in the past. I expect Colston to return this season as a solid backup WR with the ability to start when needed.

Rank: 55 (WR22)

Fantasy Sleeper: Pierre Thomas

Khiry Robinson seems to be the popular choice for New Orleans fantasy sleeper running back. I think Thomas has more upside. If you play in a PPR league, Thomas was ranked 17th among running backs. Here’s something you have to remember, he was sharing touches with Darren Sproles. Sproles is gone and I believe Thomas is next in line in New Orlean’s rotation. If you are playing in a standard league, Thomas is definitely a quality back up RB. Thomas has RB2 starter potential this year in fantasy.

Rank: 103 (RB39)

Breaking: Saints To Make Graham Highest Paid TE in NFL History

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The Saints and Jimmy Graham have reached an agreement to keep the NFL’s best TE in New Orleans. Graham announced his agreement early Tuesday morning via twitter, stating “It’s official I’m bleeding black and gold this morning! Thank you WhoDatNation for all the support.” The deal is said to be a 4yr/$4omil deal that guarantees Graham 21 million, only second to Vernon Davis for the most guaranteed money for a TE.

It was very important for the Saints to lock up Graham long term, because he plays a major role in the Saints offense. Graham had over 1,200 yds and 16 TD in 2013, by far his best campaign since being in the league.

Even though Graham is reported to be the highest paid TE in NFL history, there is another man who must feel thrilled about this deal, and that man is Drew Brees. Losing your favorite target would be a huge loss, so expect Brees to show his gratitude towards Graham and the Saints’ organization via social media.

Be happy Saints fans, you’ll be hearing a lot of Brees to Graham in the upcoming years.

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Deadline for Long Term Contract for Jimmy Graham

Today’s the day. July 15th is here and Jimmy Graham has until 4:00pm today to sign a long term deal with the Saints otherwise he will be franchise tagged and we will be doing this all over again next offseason.

The Saints have reportedly offered Jimmy Graham a multi year deal worth $9.5 million dollars a year. As a franchise tagged Tight End he is set to make $7 million this upcoming season. As a franchise tagged Wide Receiver he would be set to make $12.3 million this upcoming season. Graham has appealed the arbitrator’s ruling that he is a Tight End.

Whether he is a Tight End or not it is imperative for the Saints and Graham to get a deal done so that Drew Brees’ favorite target has a clear mind heading into training camp.

Stay tuned to Pro Football 366 throughout the day for breaking news regarding Jimmy Graham and his contract situation.

 

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Brees Wants TE Graham Deal To Be Resolved

(Photo Credit: Glenn Erby/AP)

According to ESPN’s Ed Werder in a recent interview with Drew Brees; Brees’ biggest focus this offseason is getting his favorite target paid. Brees wants nothing more than his super star tight end, Jimmy Graham, to have a long term contract prior to the opening of this season.

“Jimmy’s my guy,” Brees told Werder. “I want what’s best for him. I want what’s best for the team. Certainly there’s a way that everybody can be happy coming out of this deal. But it is part of the process, and I went through something similar to this two years ago, so I get it.”

The New Orleans Saints and Graham are currently in negotiations attempting to meet the July 15th deadline for signing franchise players for multiple year deals. When Brees went through the same situation two years ago, he and the Saints went right up to the deadline before signing a major long term deal. The Saints are currently $7 Million under cap space and that number could increase if a long term deal with Graham is successfully negotiated. It is still uncertain whether or not Graham will attempt to appeal the arbitrator ruling that he is ruled as a tight end.

Brees is confident that the two sides will make a deal before the deadline, and for his sake, he hopes so. Graham has 41 touchdowns and almost 4,000 receiving yards through his first 4 years in the league. He is clearly the favorite target of Brees, leading the team in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns for the past 3 seasons. Obviously Brees doesn’t want to lose the biggest asset to the Saints offense besides himself.

BREAKING: Jimmy Graham Declared As Tight End For Franchise Tag Purposes

BREAKING: Saints Tight End Jimmy Graham has been declared as a tight end by an arbitrator and will be franchise tagged as such.

This will cost Jimmy Graham $5 million dollars in salary this season dropping his pay from around $12 million as a Wide Receiver to $7 million as a tight end.

Graham filed a grievance with the NFL and the case was given to an arbitrator who declared him as a Tight End. One piece of evidence that hurt Graham was that in his twitter bio he declares him self as a Tight End.

Jimmy Graham has not attended any offseason workouts and one could wonder if this ruling will cause a holdout with training camp opening up in about three weeks.

Stay tuned to Pro Football 366 for more information about this story.