New Orleans Saints sign tight end Jimmy Graham to one-year deal

After taking the 2022 season off, veteran tight end Jimmy Graham signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday, the team announced.

A third-round draft pick for the Saints in 2010, Graham’s one-year deal is a chance to return where it all began 12 years ago. During the first five years of his career, he made the second-team and first-team All-Pro lists while with New Orleans.

After the Saints, Graham joined the Seahawks for three seasons, then the Packers for two and the Bears for another two.

His last season in 2021, he posted 14 receptions in 15 games for a career-low 167 yards. He also had three touchdowns. He was playing on a two-year deal worth $16 million.

Graham’s career highs were posted in 2011. He had 1,310 receiving yards that year. Two years later, he had 1,215 yards with a career-high 16 touchdowns. The mark was just one shy of Rob Gronkowski‘s 17-touchdown single-season record.

Although Graham didn’t play in 2022, he hinted on social media that he wasn’t yet ready to retire. He was hit by a car in May while cycling, trashing the new bike he’d bought for his “post-retirement” pursuits.

Saints bring home former LSU guard Trai Turner

Former LSU offensive lineman Trai Turner is returning to the Bayou State after signing a one-year deal on Tuesday with the New Orleans Saints, according to Adam Schefter. A New Orleans native, Turner now gets to return home to play his 10th year in the league.

Fresh off of a season with the Commanders, the Pro Bowl guard was playing on a one-year deal for $3 million in Washington. Contract figures for his new deal are not yet public. He started 12 of the 16 games for Ron Rivera and the Commanders last season.

Turner first arrived in the NFL as a third-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft for the Carolina Panthers out of LSU. He spent six seasons in Carolina, earning Pro Bowl appearances in each of his final five years there.

Following the 2019 season, Turner spent one year with the Los Angeles Chargers. In 2021, Turner played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the Steelers, he was able to stay healthy after battling injuries early in his career. He played in all 17 games in the 2021 regular season, plus Pittsburgh’s lone playoff game.

Turner played in 16 games just twice in his six-year stint with the Panthers. He then appeared in nine games in 2020 with the Chargers.

The offensive lineman’s new deal comes just in time. The Saints begin training camp with a 9 a.m. practice on Friday.