By now we know that Shayne Graham will be the Saints’ 2014 kicker, at least for now, as he’s been re-signed at the expense of quarterback Ryan Griffin. So why did the Saints cut Graham, along with Derek Dimke, temporarily leaving the roster kickerless? And why did they keep Griffin on their initial 53 man roster, only to waive him now? There’s a lot of factors at play, and of course I can’t pretend to know exactly what’s in the mind of the Saints’ brass. But I can make educated guesses.
First of all, these moves aren’t done by accident, and they have a very specific purpose. The Saints knew all along that Graham was going to be their kicker, and he know it too. We spent a lot of time assuming that the Saints were going to bring in a new guy and that Sean Payton wasn’t happy with what he had, but all along his guy was Graham. This had to have been communicated to both he and Dimke (because Dimke had a visit with another NFL team yesterday, whereas Graham did not). So they told him to expect an official “release” with a re-signing coming shortly thereafter. But why? Well as Mike Triplett and Ralph Malbrough have both already theorized, and I agree with them, the odds of losing Griffin to another team were higher at final cuts that they would be a couple of days later after the dust has settled. That’s because teams have decided on their quarterbacks at this point and they’re less likely to give Griffin a roster spot on the Tuesday of a game week when they have their quarterback depth set. The moves for the likes of Case Keenum and Ryan Mallett have already been made. That doesn’t mean Griffin can’t get poached, it does mean it’s less likely. And the Saints are increasing their percentage odds of keeping him. A Griffin signing to someone else would come at the expense of a special teamer, or another quarterback that knows the offense and playbook. Five days away from game that’s probably not happening.
Further, the Saints may still be weighing what to do with fullback Erik Lorig and linebacker Khairi Fortt. Both players have been injured and unable to practice for some time, and the Saints may want to buy themselves some time to see how their rehab goes before they make any IR decisions which would either A. shelve them for the season or B. shelve them for several weeks. The Saints may also want to make sure they feel good about a guy like Austin Johnson for a couple weeks before they make any rash decisions with regard to Lorig. Releasing Griffin allows them to do that, albeit with a larger risk in that they could lose their #3 quarterback.
Griffin is still eligible for the practice squad, so the Saints can bump one of the team guys currently on the squad there to keep him on the team, or they could give him a type of “musical chairs” roster shuffle situation that Andy Tanner is so familiar with. You’ll remember that through the years Tanner has constantly been moved each week from the practice squad, to the active roster, to being a free agent. Griffin may be in for a year of that, with the under the table handshake agreement that he’s the “rolling 54th player” on the team.
And if you remember, the Saints gave Griffin guaranteed bonus money and a roster spot when the St. Louis Rams came sniffing around last year. I’m not saying they categorically won’t lose him, but clearly there’s an open channel of communication between both sides and if an offer were to come along the Saints would do their best to match it.
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