2016 NFL Trade Rumors: Jimmy Graham Leaving Seattle Seahawks for Chicago Bears?

Jun 02, 2016 12:32 PM EDT

It seems the Seattle Seahawks is looking to do something about its current roster since new rumors suggest that they might decide to trade tight end Jimmy Graham. If this happens, one of the teams that the veteran athlete could end up in is the Cleveland Browns.

According to Digital Journal, the Seahawks and Browns could work out some form of deal that could be really beneficial for the both of them. For one, releasing Graham, who is bound to earn $10 million this year, could create sufficient cap space for the Seahawks to draft another high-profile prospect or acquire a sought-after player through a trade.

For the Browns, on the other hand, Graham could make a good addition to their lineup since they are currently experiencing problems of their own after trading away Martellus Bennet to the New England Patriots.

With Graham in the roster, the Bears will be able to setup a good target in the red zone for its passers, which could translate to running successful plays.

But then again, a trade involving Graham is not as easy as it seems. For one, he suffered a season-ending injury last year and has been on the Seahawks injured reserve since November. This happened a couple of months after he was traded to the team in March 2015. In November of that year, he suffered a torn right patellar tendon in his knee and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

Although he's been participating in the Seahawks' offseason team activities, it seems Graham is not yet back to his original playing condition. As reported by SportsNaut, Graham will not play in the Seahawks' pre-season.

This, however, does not mean that Graham is still injured. After all, he's already been spotted catching passes during OTAs. Instead, the site noted that the team only made the decision to put him on the bench to prevent aggravating his previous knee injury. In other words, the Seahawks are only being careful with what to do with Graham until they are sure that he's ready to play at his maximum potential.