It is rare to see a coach stand up for his player like that in a financial matter. He's essentially saying that Graham deserves more on a franchise tag than the NFL rules currently allow. Payton also is admitting that basically, the team will pay Graham like a top receiver on a long-term deal. We wouldn't be surprised if Payton's words are used by Graham's camp in its grievance regarding the tight end's franchise number, if the process makes it that far.