There weren't very many bright spots for the New Orleans Saints this past season -- at least, not after the first two weeks.
That said, one notable veteran defender may have set himself up for a much bigger payday than he received in 2024, and he's open to having it be with the Saints.
Chase Young signed with the Saints this past season with his career at a crossroads. After being the No. 2 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft for the Washington Commanders, he won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and seemed poised for a legendary trajectory.
However, Young tore his ACL midway through the 2021 season and missed more than a full year of action, and was then traded by Washington in 2023 to the San Francisco 49ers. After recording 7.5 sacks and forcing four fumbles in 15 games as a rookie, Young recorded only 9 sacks and two forced fumbles in 28 games over the course of the next three years.
With the Saints in 2024, Young had a bounce-back season with 5.5 sacks and 21 QB hits (a career-high). He was named the Saints' unsung hero by WhoDatDish.com, with NFL.com's Kevin Patra explaining that there was more to his season than the box scores show. Per Next Gen Stats as cited by Patra, Young recorded the sixth-most QB pressures of any player in the league with 73.
Young was additionally ranked by ProFootballNetwork.com as the No. 24 player in the NFL who is headed to free agency. As written by ProFootballNetwork's Ben Rolfe, "Young may not be the star he was drafted to be, but he is a very solid pass rusher who has proven to be very durable in the last couple of years."
Whether it's with the Saints or not, Young should be in line for a bigger paycheck than the one-year, $13 million deal he signed this past offseason.
