'What a journey': Graham to retire with Saints

Tight end Jimmy Graham indicated Tuesday he plans to officially retire from the NFL this year with the New Orleans Saints.

"What a journey," Graham wrote on X in response to a post by a reporter for the team's website that Graham said he planned to retire as a Saint.

Graham told ESPN last year that he had not closed the door on football but would base his retirement plans around the Saints' needs.

"I just want to make sure when I retire, it's as a Saint, and it's when they want me to," he told ESPN last summer.

Graham, 38, played his last NFL game in 2023, when he signed with the Saints after sitting out the 2022 season. Graham played in 13 games for New Orleans in 2023, catching six passes, including four touchdowns.

Graham recently completed "The Arctic Challenge," a rowing expedition across the Arctic Ocean. He was part of a four-person team that intended to set a world record for the fastest four-person team to cross that span.

According to the Ocean Rowing Society, which tracks expeditions for world records, the team finished in a world record time of 10 days and 5 hours. That previous world record for a four-person team was 15 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes, set by Ocean Revival in 2023.

Graham was selected by the Saints in the third round of the 2010 draft despite playing just one season of college football at Miami. He had previously played basketball for Miami from 2005-2009.

Graham went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL and was the NFL's receiving touchdowns leader in 2013. He was selected to five Pro Bowls.

Graham will finish his NFL career having played in 197 games for four teams (Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears).

He caught 719 career passes for 8,545 yards and 89 touchdowns, including a career-best 16 touchdowns in 2013.

Including the playoffs, Graham has 94 touchdowns, which is fifth all-time for NFL tight ends.