The NFL Players Association filed a grievance on behalf of New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham on Wednesday.
The Saints placed the franchise tag on Graham in March. Graham is considered to be a tight end, which has a tag salary of $7.05 million. However Graham considers himself to be a wide receiver because he has lined up out wide or in the slot in 67 percent of his snaps. The franchise-tag salary for a wide receiver is $12.3 million, according to ESPN.
The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement says that players should be tagged according to the position which he line up for the most, according to the Associated Press. The next step in the process is a grievance hearing. No date for the hearing has been set yet.
The Saints would like to sign Graham to a long-term deal. The deadline for signing a franchise player to a long-term deal is July 15. After July 15 franchise players can only sign one-year deals. In four seasons in the NFL Graham has 301 catches for 3,863 yards and 41 touchdowns, according to USA Today, which first reported the news.
If Graham does get the wide receiver tag, he would become the highest-paid tight end in NFL history. He would pass Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots who got $9 million a year two years ago. As of Monday morning the Saints are about $3.45 million under the 2014 salary cap with Graham under the tight end tag, according to NFLPA records.