ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Its the $5 million question thats rumbling through NFL front offices and locker rooms alike: Is All-Pro Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints a tight end or a really big wide receiver? It matters to men like Pro Bowl tight end Julius Thomas of the Denver Broncos, whos up for a big pay raise and could be facing a franchise tag himself after the upcoming season. The Saints gave Graham the franchise tag for about $7 million as a tight end, the position hes been listed at for his entire four-year career -- and which he himself lists on his Twitter account. Graham contends that because he more often is split out away from the tackle, he is really a wide receiver. And, after all, he did lead the league with 16 touchdown catches last season. That franchise tag is worth about $12.3 million. The sides stated their cases in an arbitration hearing earlier this week in Louisiana and are awaiting a ruling from arbitrator Stephen Burbank. Thomas is understandably interested in the outcome. "Ive kind of been keeping ... an eye on that situation, obviously, because it could probably come back to affect a lot of us tight ends," said Thomas, who is scheduled to make $645,000 this year. "But the way I feel about it is, Does two letters next to your name on the depth chart really determine your value to a team?" When it comes to franchise tags in the NFL, it certainly does. The Saints note that Graham made the All-Pro team and the Pro Bowl as a tight end and was drafted as a tight end. Graham points to the 86 passes he caught for 1,215 yards last season -- numbers any wide receiver would envy. "Does it matter if hes a tight end, or if he calls himself a slot receiver or a running back?" Thomas said. "I mean, if youre going to have double-digit touchdowns and contribute a bunch of yards in the receiving game, I just say that youre a guy that makes great plays and are a value to your team. So I dont know why the argument necessarily comes down to either youre a tight end or a receiver. I think that if youre a guy that makes plays, thats how you should be valued." Its because top-tier wide receivers make much more money than the games best tight ends. "Thats true. So I guess thats why its a topic," Thomas said. "But Ill say again: I think if youre a basketball player, they wouldnt say, Ah, youre a power forward. Really look out for those point guards. So I dont think that the position matters. I think if youre a guy making plays for your team, then that should be your value." Denver general manager John Elway has opened talks with representatives of both Thomas and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who are entering the final year of their respective rookie deals and would like any deal to get done by the start of training camp next month. Demaryius Thomas, who has two dozen TD catches since Peyton Mannings arrival and was the lone bright spot for Denver in the Super Bowl, figures to command around $60 million over five years after putting up back-to-back stellar seasons that vaulted him to elite wide receiver status. Yet, it was Julius Thomas who was the key to Denvers record-breaking offence last season. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound late-bloomer was a matchup nightmare for defences and the bulls-eye for many of Mannings biggest moments last season when he earned his first Pro Bowl honour. He caught the quarterbacks 51st TD throw that broke Tom Bradys single-season record, one of his dozen TD receptions that broke Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpes team record for tight ends. And he came up huge in the Broncos two wins that got them to their first Super Bowl in 15 years. Broncos coach John Fox said the tight end position has evolved over the years to the point that "its like another receiver" rather than "an offensive tackle lined up to block." Thats not to say Fox is going to dive into the debate over whether a tight end actually is a wide receiver. "Im not getting into that," Fox said with a chuckle. "Ill leave that for other people." Budda Baker Jersey . Watching them over the past year - and in some cases, two years - has given us a starting point for this seasons Craigs List. Tre Boston Jersey . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. http://www.officialarizonacardinalsfootb...s-jersey-womens. So true. It is one thing to create a winning football team, and another to keep it winning. Each and every week it changes. The NFL creates a unique interest of not who is "the best", but much more who is "the best this week". J.J. Nelson Jersey . Which is to say, the top of this years draft class is not as dynamic or exciting as the 2013 class of Nate MacKinnon, Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Drouin and Seth Jones and its not as strikingly promising as the highly-anticipated 2015 slate of Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin. Andre Smith Jersey . According to a report from the Hamilton Spectator, Infrastructure Ontario has informed the City of Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats the stadium may not be ready by the June 30 deadline. LONDON -- The Ukrainian city of Lviv withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter Games on Monday, becoming the third contender to drop out of the race for an Olympics that no one seems to want. Lviv pulled out because of the continuing political and security crisis in Ukraine, where government forces are battling an insurgency by pro-Russian separatists. Lviv officials said they would now focus on bidding for the 2026 Winter Games instead. The decision to withdraw, which had been widely expected, followed talks between Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and IOC President Thomas Bach. "We concluded that it would be extremely difficult to pursue the 2022 bid under current circumstances but that a future bid would make sense for Ukraine and Ukrainian sport," Bach said in a statement. The announcement came exactly one week before the International Olympic Committee selects a short list of finalists for the 2022 Games. Three cities remain in contention: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing, and Oslo. With Lviv out, the IOC executive board is likely to retain all three and not cut any of the candidates. The host city will be selected by the full IOC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 31, 2015. "We have always said that we will only continue if we can be certain to deliver on all our promises," Lviv bid CEO Sergei Goncharov told The Associated Press. "Due to the current circumstances in Ukraine, we, however, felt that a bid for 2026 would make more sense. We remain convinced of the positive impact that hosting Olympic Games would have for the city of Lviv and the whole country." Lvivs withdrawal follows the earlier pullouts of Stockholm and Krakow, Poland. The Swedish capital dropped out in December after politicians declined to give financial support. The Polish city withdrew last month after 70 per cent of residents rejected the bid in a referendum. The future of Oslos bid also remains uncertain. The Norwegian government has yet to back the project and wont make a decision until the autumn. In addition, recent polls have shown that more than haalf the population opposes the games.dddddddddddd If Oslo drops out later, that would leave only two cities standing. Almaty, commercial capital of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, hosted the 2011 Asian Winter Games and would shape up as the favourite. Beijing, which hosted the 2008 Olympics, is bidding to become the first city to stage both the Summer and Winter Games. Beijing proposes holding Alpine events 120 miles (190 kilometres) away in the northern Chinese city of Zhangjiakou. And with Pyeongchang, South Korea, hosting the 2018 Winter Games and Tokyo the 2020 Olympics, the IOC would normally be reluctant to send the games to Asia for a third straight time. Even before the start of the official 2022 campaign, two potential serious contenders stayed away. St. Moritz-Davos and Munich cancelled proposed bids after voters in Switzerland and Germany voted "no" in referendums. The troubled race poses a crisis for the IOC, which is running out of potential sites for the games. Potential host cities, especially in Western Europe, are concerned about the financial costs of the games. Many have been scared off by the $51 billion price tag associated with Februarys Winter Olympics in Sochi. Russia spent much of the record sum on long-term infrastructure projects for the entire region. Rio de Janeiros delayed preparations for the 2016 Olympics are also a major concern. Changes to the bidding process and efforts to reduce the cost of the games are among the key issues being addressed by the IOC as part of Bachs "Agenda 2020" -- his blueprint for the future of the Olympic movement that will be voted on in December. Despite their withdrawal, Lviv bid officials have travelled to Pyeongchang this week for debriefings on the Sochi Games. Bach said the IOCs preliminary assessment of the Lviv bid found "a huge potential for future development." "We will continue to pursue our dream," Goncharov said. 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