On the second day, Seahawks rested

SEATTLE – As the NFL free-agency period moved into its second wave Wednesday – when the big-money players are mostly gone and teams turn to Plan B – the Seahawks were quiet.

The Seahawks did not add any players and the only confirmed visitor was offensive lineman Shelley Smith, recently released by Miami.

Consider it the calm after the storm, then, as the NFL world was still buzzing about the move the Seahawks made Tuesday, acquiring tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick from the New Orleans Saints for center Max Unger and a first-round selection.

Graham was expected to fly to Seattle on Wednesday from Miami, where he had been when the trade was made, to take a physical. Unger, likewise, had to fly from his home in Hawaii to New Orleans to take a physical there.

Once the physicals, which usually are routine, are completed then the trade will become official.

It was a trade most observers initially were tilting toward Seattle.

The football analytic site Pro Football Focus, for instance, graded the trade as an A-minus for Seattle and a C-plus for the Saints, pointing out that “over the past two seasons, no tight end has more receptions (171), touchdowns (26) or yards (2,104) than Graham.”

Most of the dissenting voices on the trade came from New Orleans, where a columnist for the Times-Picayune wrote that the Saints wondered why Graham’s production fell off some in 2014 after he signed a four-year, $40 million contract that came after a dispute with the team over whether he should be designated for the franchise tag as a receiver (which would have paid him more) or as a tight end.

“The Saints realized Graham played much of the season with a significant shoulder injury,” wrote Larry Holder. “But was the injury so severe to force such a falloff in production from a contract year in 2013 (86 catches, 1,215 yards, 16 TDs) to last season (85 receptions, 889 yards and 10 TDs)? The Saints had their doubts.”

Some observers also wondered how Graham’s blocking, never regarded as his strong suit, will fit in with a Seattle offense that typically leads with the run.

But in an interview with 710 ESPN Seattle, Seahawks general manager John Schneider said any perceived weaknesses in Graham’s game will be more than made up for by his strengths.

At 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds and with athleticism that had him initially playing at the University of Miami on a basketball scholarship before he turned out for football as a senior, Graham is the big red-zone target the Seahawks have not had in years.

Undoubtedly with the end of the Super Bowl in mind, a tweet from ESPN noted that Graham has been thrown to nine times in his career from the 1-yard line, and he caught eight for touchdowns.

There could be some risk involved for Seattle in trading away the player acknowledged as the leader of its offensive line and integrating a big name into the locker room.

“If you are complacent in this business,” Schneider said. “You will lose your job.”