Jimmy Graham To The Seattle Seahawks, Sam Bradford To The Eagles And Other Wacky Moves In The NFL

The 2015 offseason has gotten even more interesting. So March 10 was the start of the new season, meaning teams can officially sign players and finalize trades. And after reporting on what I thought would be the most shocking deal of the offseason — LeSean McCoy for Kiko Alonso — it is safe to say that some of today’s trades/acquisitions surpassed that Bills/Eagles deal.

And by far the biggest shock comes from the latest blockbuster deal between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints. The two parties agreed on a trade that sends the highly lauded tight end, Jimmy Graham, to Seattle for “multiple draft picks and center Max Unger,” according to Adam Schefter and league sources.

In five years with the Saints, Graham had 386 receptions, 4,752 yards and 51 touchdowns. The deal addressed problems on both sides: the Saints were $16 million over the cap — the most in the NFL — and the Seahawks’ tight ends were the sixth least targeted in the league.

On top of this, today saw various interesting acquisitions, including the Indianapolis Colts’ signing of Frank Gore. Over the weekend, it was believed that Chip Kelly was going to get Gore to join the Eagles after sending McCoy to the Buffalo Bills.

However, the former 49er had somer reservations about joining Kelly’s team and decided to head up to the Indianapolis Colts, getting a fairly big deal for an older back: $12 million over three years with $7.5 million guaranteed. Best of all, Gore took his former Miami University teammate, Andre Johnson, to the Colts facility too, resulting in rampant speculation about the wide receiver’s destination.

This would be two monumental pick ups for the Colts: Gore just came off his eighth 1,000 yard season in nine years and Andre Johnson, who has caught 1,012 passes and garnered over 13,500 yards, is an ideal candidate to replace Reggie Wayne.

But losing Frank Gore does not mean the Eagles will stop their offseason overhaul. The St. Louis Rams and the Eagles have agreed to do a quarterback and draft pick swap: the often injured Sam Bradford for the also injury-prone Nick Foles, according to Adam Schefter.

Bradford has only played in seven games over the last two season due to back-to-back ACL tears, but in his five years he has thrown for 11,065 yards, 58 touchdowns and 38 interceptions. As for Foles, since he took the starting job from Michael Vick, he has had problems staying on the field: between sporadic concussions and a broken collarbone, he missed eleven games over the last two seasons.

While both have the potential to be quality starters, this deal remains quite a head scratcher, as most have no idea what Chip Kelly has planned for the Eagles organization. His trades are more reminiscent of a fantasy football league than the NFL.

As for the other moves around the league, the Detroit Lions have already replaced Ndamukong Suh by trading with the Ravens for Haloti Ngata. The nose tackle remained a staple of Baltimore’s defense for nine years and is a good veteran leader in the locker room. It may not completely replace Suh, but it is a good start.

On top of this, former Browns QB Brian Hoyer agreed to terms with the Houston Texans: while he would be competing with Ryan Mallett for the job, his future was uncertain in Cleveland after the team signed Josh McCown.

And finally, the New York Giants were able to pick up the former New England Patriot Shane Vereen. This would make there backfield Vereen, Andrew Williams and Rashad Jennings — the best triple threat running back core for the team since 2008’s Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw.

As the week ends, be sure to stay tuned for more updates.