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NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Saints have placed their franchise tag on Jimmy Graham in order to protect the clubs rights to its star tight end through next season. The move means Graham, barring a holdout, will almost certainly play for New Orleans next season for no less than the tight end franchise tag of $7.04 million. It is also possible, under the NFLs collective bargaining agreement, that Graham could be tagged as a receiver because of how often he lined up split wide from the line. That would carry a tag of $12.3 million. However, since the Saints only placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Graham, according to a report from ESPN, teams can still try to sign the star but the Saints would be able to match any offer or be compensated with two first-round draft picks from the signing team. Once Grahams tag has been determined, the two sides could continue to argue that matter before an arbitrator. That appears to be the likely process as both side aim to determine precisely how much negotiating leverage they have before hammering out a long-term deal. Similarly, the Saints use their franchise tag on quarterback Drew Brees in March 2012, then needed a little more than four months to work out the five-year, $100 million deal Brees signed shortly before training camp. Like Brees, Graham is represented by Creative Artists Agency. They do not have the same agent. Graham is represented by Jimmy Sexton and Brees by Tom Condon. The move, confirmed by team spokesman Greg Bensel, was expected as part of what is widely anticipated to be a protracted negotiation between the team and one of the best young tight ends in the NFL Graham has said publicly during the Pro Bowl in February that it would be "unfortunate," if the team used the franchise tag on him, but on Friday he reacted to the move with subtle humour. Afterward, Graham wrote on his Twitter account, "Confirming its officially Franchisefriday... TAG ... I guess Im it." Graham, a former college basketball who played one year of football at Miami, was drafted by the Saints in 2010. Last season, he led the Saints in catches with 86, yards with 1,215 and touchdowns with 16. He has led the Saints in catches in each of the past three seasons, while leading the club in yards receiving and touchdowns in two of the last three seasons. During the past three regular seasons combined, he has 270 catches for 3,507 yards and 36 touchdowns. Puma Shoes Clearance Uk . Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres came to an agreement on a big trade that may only offer incremental improvement to the Blues in their quest for a Stanley Cup. Cheap Puma Shoes Online Uk . After all, the No. 8 seed is chasing far loftier goals. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in Wimbledons second round on Thursday. http://www.clearancepumauk.com/ . The Braves optioned outfielder Jose Constanza to Triple-A Gwinnett. As expected, the Braves also called up right-hander Julio Teheran from Gwinnett to start Sundays game and optioned backup catcher J. Puma Shoes Sale Uk . Sijsling, ranked 74th in the world, was leading 6-0, 4-1 when his Italian opponent called it quits after just 39 minutes on court. In a match pitting together two qualifiers, Michal Przysiezny of Poland defeated local favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4) for only his second Tour win of the season. Puma Shoes Clearance Sale . The team sent out a press release on Friday stating Poile was resting and recovering and that he will remain in hospital for further observation. The Predators were preparing for the game against the Wild when Poile was hit by a puck that flew off the ice at him where he was standing in a tunnel behind the bench.DENVER - Carlos Gonzalezs fifth-inning base hit didnt land far from Arizona right fielder Gerardo Parra, who held him to a single with a quick throw to second base. Trouble is, D.J. LeMahieu, running on the pitch, was about to score all the way from first. The relay from shortstop Chris Owings beat LeMahieu to the plate, but catcher Miguel Montero couldnt hang onto the low throw and LeMahieu slid across with the go-ahead run. Rockies manager Walt Weiss praised both LeMahieu and third base coach Stu Cole. "D.J.s got to give Stu the opportunity to wave him and thats what he did. He never slowed down and gave Stu the opportunity to make a gutsy call," Weiss said after Colorados come-from-behind 9-4 victory Saturday night. "It still seemed like we had the runner beat with the throw but we didnt hold on to it," manager Kirk Gibson lamented after the Diamondbacks fourth straight loss left them with a 1-7 record and their worst start in franchise history. "It was a pressure play they put on us. We didnt execute it." Gonzalez was as surprised as the D-Backs were when he looked back and saw LeMahieu huffing for home. "It was awesome, a heads-up play," Gonzalez said. "Parra kind of falls asleep in right field thinking that I was going to go to second base, throws the ball to second base, D.J. never stopped and that was the go-ahead run, that was what we needed. And once again, the bullpen did an amazing job tonight holding the opposing team and we just kept scoring runs." After falling behind 4-0, the Rockies scored the games final nine runs for their second straight blowout of the reeling D-Backs. Nolan Arenado homered twice for his first career multi-homer game, Michael Cuddyer went deep, rookie right-hander Tommy Kahnle picked up his first major league victory, Charlie Blackmon went 3 for 4, tying the Rockies franchise record with nine hits in consecutive games, and Colorado snapped Paul Goldschmidts 26-game hitting streak that was the longest in the majors. Yet, it was LeMahieus hustle play that truly epitomized the Rockies successful night.dddddddddddd Its the kind of aggressiveness on the base paths Weiss has been preaching about all spring that will be required of his team if the Rockies are going to have the kind of season their owner thinks they can. He predicted a 90-win season in the competitive NL West. Never looking back, LeMahieu didnt see where Gonzalez had hit the ball, "but I could kind of see by Stus body language that if something happened, if he bobbled it or whatever, that we could take an extra base there. It was a great call by him." Gonzalez praised both Cole and LeMahieu with his most improbable of RBIs. "He thanked me for my hustle and getting him that RBI," LeMahieu said with a chuckle. "It feels good as a teammate to pick up an RBI for a guy like that." That hustle also benefited Kahnle (1-0), who was selected in the 2013 Rule 5 draft from the New York Yankees. He pitched 1 2-3 innings of one-hit ball in relief of starter Jorge De La Rosa, who struggled through his second straight start. Brandon McCarthy (0-1) surrendered six earned runs on seven hits in six innings for Arizona. The Rockies fell behind 4-0 before scoring three times in the fourth and twice in the fifth to take the lead. De La Rosa allowed four runs, three of them earned, on four hits. He struggled through a 42-pitch, 21-minute first inning but only gave up one run on Martin Prados double into the left-field corner that scored Goldschmidt from first. He also gave up a two-run homer to Mark Trumbo, his fourth, in the third inning. Notes: Goldschmidt went 0-for-2 with two walks. ... Blackmons nine hits in two games tied the franchise mark set by Juan Pierre in 2002. ... Trumbo now has four home runs and 11 RBIs in five career games at Coors Field. ... De La Rosa threw 101 pitches, 30 more than McCarthy threw in six full innings. ... Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki took a designated day off. ... The series wraps up Sunday afternoon with the D-Backs sending LHP Wade Miley (1-1) against LHP Brett Anderson (0-1). ' ' '