Who won the Jimmy Graham trade? That’s something New Orleans Saints fans and Seattle Seahawks faithful have spent eight years debating, after the Saints traded Graham and a fourth-round pick to the Seahawks in exchange for Max Unger and a first-rounder (which they botched, selecting an infamous draft bust in Stephone Anthony).
But Seattle is still reeling from Unger’s departure. They’ve started games with eight different players snapping the ball in the years since they traded their Pro Bowl center away, which ESPN’s Brady Henderson chronicled in a great article last week, and yet another training camp competition is brewing for them this summer. Per Elias Sports Bureau research, the Seahawks are tied for the fifth-most starters at center since 2013, when injuries began to pile up for Unger in his last two years in Seattle:
- Justin Britt (54 games)
- Ethan Pocic (24)
- Max Unger (19)
- Austin Blythe (17)
- Patrick Lewis (13)
- Joey Hunt (10)
- Kyle Fuller (8)
- Drew Nowak (7)
- Lemuel Jeanpierre (6)
- Stephen Schilling (3)
- Damien Lewis (1)
Talk about a roller-coaster ride. Unger was great for the Saints, returning to Pro Bowl form and only missing a single game in four years with the black and gold; injuries did ultimately force him into a retirement, but not until he had played 10 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl ring. Graham was also selected for a couple of Pro Bowls while in Seattle, though he never approached the heights he reached with New Orleans.
So where are these players now? Unger has since went home to his family’s ranch in Hawaii and shed a lot of weight to better mange his health after his playing career, while Graham is recovering from a cycling accident in Miami and preparing to sail around the world. Anthony went back to Clemson and began working as a defensive graduate assistant in 2022, while the Seahawks packaged the fourth-round pick they got from New Orleans in a draft-day trade up for Tyler Lockett, a three-time All-Pro wide receiver who is still playing for them at a high level. So who would you say won the trade? Let us know in the poll below:
