Tight End Jermaine Gresham Visits Saints

According to a report by FOX Sports reporter Mike Garafolo, former Cincinnati Bengal and current free agent tight end, Jermaine Gresham visited the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday.

Here is the aforementioned tweet from Garafolo:

Free agent TE Jermaine Gresham visited the Saints today, sources say. Interesting possibility after Jimmy Graham trade. No deal yet, though.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) June 4, 2015

Gresham still finds himself on the market due to having back surgery for a herniated disc this offseason, which likely kept the majority of potential suitors away.  Gresham, who turns 27 in less than two weeks, stands as the best free agent tight end on the market and arguably the best free agent remaining overall.

Gresham was selected by Cincinnati in the first round (21st overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma.  As a Sooner, he was named first-team All Big 12 and first-team All-American in 2008.  As a pro, Gresham is a two-time Pro Bowler (2011 & 2012) and is only the third tight end in NFL history to have over 50 receptions in his first three seasons.

Here are Gresham's career stats with the Bengals:

Due to the Cam Jordan contract extension earlier this week, the Saints now have the cap space to sign a player like Gresham.  It can be argued that the biggest question about potentially signing Gresham has nothing to do with him at all.  The Saints, with the trade of Jimmy Graham, may simply be looking to move away from an offensive gameplan featuring a dynamic pass-catching tight end.  Whether this philosophy changes in 2015 remains to be seen, but the prospect of adding a healthy Gresham to the offense has the potential to be a major coup for the Saints.

It is tempting to see what Gresham could become in Sean Payton's offense with Drew Brees at quarterback.  Gresham put up very good numbers having only played one season with Carson Palmer and four seasons with Andy Dalton.  New Orleans could provide a massive upgrade for Gresham in that respect.

Although the Saints have seemed quite satisfied with the prospect of going into the 2015 season with Josh Hill and Benjamin Watson at tight end, it's understandable that the team would take a flyer on a player of Gresham's caliber, and at this stage of the offseason, he offers a low risk/high reward scenario, if the asking price is just right for the Saints.

The Saints may like both Hill and Watson, but maybe they wouldn't mind having another "JG" back at tight end in 2015.