Looked upon as a failure by most who have watched the Seattle Seahawks closely over the last decade, the trade for tight end Jimmy Graham in 2015 was at least fun on paper.
Seattle's tight end room had been criminally underutilized (no tight ends with more than 400 receiving yards from 2010-14), and Graham was supposed to be the one to flip that narrative on its head. However, while he did rack up the most receiving yards (2,048) of any Seahawks tight end in the franchise's history in just three seasons, that's not saying much.
The move also marked the beginning of the decline of the Seahawks' offensive line, swapping center Max Unger for Graham. Unger was a First Team All-Pro in 2012 and two-time Pro Bowler before being sent to New Orleans. Seattle has been trying to build what could be considered even a mediocre offensive line ever since.
That said, it was a deal that swapped two of the premier players at their respective positions. That's why CBS Sports writer Jeff Kerr ranked the trade seventh among player-for-player swaps since 2000.
"Graham was one of the best pass-catching tight ends in football when the New Orleans Saints moved on, dealing him and a 2015 fourth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for center Max Unger and a 2015 first-round pick (which turned into linebacker Stephone Anthony)," Kerr wrote. "While Graham was productive in Seattle, making two Pro Bowls, he never had the same production as he did in New Orleans (51 touchdowns in his first stint with the Saints compared to 18 with the Seahawks). Unger was an All-Pro center in Seattle, but a reliable starter in New Orleans — making the Pro Bowl in his final season in 2018."
This really only makes sense from a star power standpoint. Neither player was as good for their new teams as they were in their previous stops, and the Seahawks very directly lost the trade by also sending New Orleans a first-round pick. Coupled with other trades, 2015 would be the third straight season the Seahawks didn't pick in the first round of the draft.
Even though Graham finished with 923 yards on 65 receptions in 2016 — the best of his three campaigns in Seattle — he was always severely underutilized in the red zone. That was where he thrived with the Saints, but was an afterthought with the Seahawks. Darrell Bevell, Seattle's offensive coordinator from 2011-17, struggled to scheme him open near the end zone, and it showed with just six touchdowns that season.
While it was a fun experiment, this remains one of the more regrettable trades in recent Seahawks history. After leaving the Seahawks following the 2017 season, Graham played five more seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Saints.
