New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham won’t become a free agent until the start of the new NFL league year on March 13, but he’s already found a new team.

The 37-year-old Graham announced Monday on social media he has joined the 4-member crew of the Artic Challenge, a quest to row — non-stop — more than 600 miles across the unforgiving Arctic Ocean. Graham will serve as the team’s lead navigator when it sets out to cross the Arctic next year.

“Using this challenge to inspire young people is very meaningful for me,” Graham said via The Arctic Challenge. “As someone who has experienced homelessness, I recognize the importance of not letting your circumstances define your future.

“Through this challenge, we will showcase the power of determination, teamwork and resilience and I am thrilled to use it as a platform for empowering kids to pursue their wildest dreams.”

Although he has made no official announcement, Monday’s news may indicate Graham is calling it a career in the NFL. According to The Arctic Challenge, the team will train for 18 months before departing Tromso, Norway, in July 2025.

Graham’s crewmates for the challenge will be former Navy SEAL Andrew Tropp, the mission captain; former Team USA rower and New Orleans native Hannah Huppi, the mission project manager; and John Huppi, a former rower for both Team USA and Team Switzerland, who will be the mission’s equipment manager.

Once the team departs Norway, they will row non-stop, working in two-hour shifts, 24 hours per day. All supplies will be brought on board the 31.5-foot vessel.

Crew members will sleep no more than 90 minutes at a time and will consume up to 8,000 calories per day (normal recommended caloric intake is 2,000-2,500). They will also have 24 hours of sunlight during their trip.

The journey is expected to take 10-20 days, but if they complete the challenge in less than 15 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes, they would break the record set in 2023 by Ocean Revival. Regardless, if they complete the mission, they will be the first mixed-gender team to row the Arctic Ocean. They would also be the first team comprised entirely of Americans to accomplish the feat.

The Challenge has partnered with three charities for the mission, including the Jimmy Graham Foundation.

Graham has spent his NFL offseasons in pursuit of adventure. He earned his pilot’s license in 2011, according to the Saints, and in the years since has received certifications in complex airplane, instrument airplane, tailwheel, multi-engine airplane, seaplane, commercial single engine, commercial multiengine, helicopter, instrument helicopter and commercial helicopter.

The Saints drafted Graham in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft, after just one year of college football at Miami. In his first five years with the Saints, he earned two All-Pro nods and was named to the Pro Bowl three times. He was named to two additional Pro Bowls in three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and also played for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.

Graham returned to the Saints as a free agent last summer. He played sparingly in 2023, but made the most of his opportunities. While he caught only six passes all season, four of them were touchdowns.