Former New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham admitted he was shocked to get traded at the start of NFL free agency this week.

He also said that when the shock wore off, he was happy to be heading to “the best team in football.”

“Well, immediately once (Saints coach) Sean (Payton) said that I’d been traded, I was going through the list of everyone who had a bunch of cap space, so I was thinking Jacksonville or Oakland or wherever, but when he told me Seattle, it definitely put a grin on my face,” Graham said Thursday.

The Seahawks received Graham and a fourth-round draft pick in a deal that sent center Max Unger, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, and the Seahawks’ 31st pick in the first round of this year’s draft.

Graham had 85 catches for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, and he averaged 88.6 catches for 1,099 yards and 11.5 touchdowns over the past four seasons.

Seattle, which advanced to the last two Super Bowls, winning in 2014, did a good job keeping him in check. He was limited to three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown in the Saints’ 34-7 loss at Seattle in 2013, then caught only one pass for 8 yards in a 23-15 postseason loss at Seattle just six weeks later.

“I’ve had some battles clearly against their defense the past couple of years,” Graham said. “We struggled against them as a team, as a whole. It’s probably the one game that as a player you always look forward to because they’re so good as a team and it’s usually a prime-time game.”

Graham joins a team that was lacking a true No. 1 aerial threat, with wide receiver Doug Baldwin leading the Seahawks with 66 catches and 825 yards last season. Running back Marshawn Lynch led the team with four receiving touchdowns. Luke Willson was the team’s leading receiver at tight end with 22 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns.

“I’ve been watching some film, and it seems like a lot of teams play a lot of cover zero against them because of Marshawn Lynch and because the read-option is so good,” Graham said. “Marshawn — you have to put guys in the box, you have to bring safeties down, and so when you’re playing cover zero, there’s a lot of one-on-one, there’s a lot of opportunities down the field, there’s a lot of opportunities in that middle section where you’ll have guys on these one-on-one matchups.

“I think eventually teams won’t be able to do that. You’re not going to be able to go cover zero just to stop the run. I think I can help open that up. Then in the red zone — that’s something I’ve always been good at. I’m 6-foot-7, 260 pounds, and most of those are like a rebound for me. So I’m looking to fit in anywhere they need me. You know, I’m a team player and I’m all about winning. Wherever they want me and whatever they want me to do, I’m 100 percent on board, and that’s with anything.”

Graham also hopes to develop as much chemistry with Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson as he did with Saints signal-caller Drew Brees.

“The first guy to reach out to me was Russell,” Graham said. “He called me right away, shot me a text and we just kind of briefly spoke and talked about his goals and his team goals and what’s been going on and just catching up and sharing some things.

“What I shared with him was exactly the chemistry thing. I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to go wherever I need to go and I’m going to be wherever I need to be to get with you and work on this chemistry because that’s the most important thing is chemistry.’ And the only way to get that is time. You’ve got to run those routes and you’ve got to catch and throw. So I’m really looking forward to getting with him and learning more about him as a player, as a thrower, as a passer.”