The New Orleans Saints' defense may take a big hit this offseason.
New Orleans struck gold last offseason by bringing former Pro Bowler Chase Young to town. He had a lot of injury question marks and landed a short-term one-year, $13 million deal. After another great year, he's going to cost a lot more now on the open market.
Spotrac currently has his market value projected to be just over $70.1 million across four years. The reason why Young is going to cash in is because he is just 25 years old and can be a top-tier pass rusher. In 2024, he had three passes defended, one forced fumble, 5.5 sacks, 31 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 21 quarterback hits.
The Saints were right to bring him to town. It was a great move and although the Saints finished in last place in the division, he was a great pickup. New Orleans, unfortunately, may not be able to bring him back at this point. The Saints have the lowest amount of cap space of any team in the National Football League at this point.
If the Saints want to bring Young back, it's going to take a lot of work. New Orleans will need to restructure deals or cut ties with players to make enough room to bring Young back if he does end up landing a deal of that nature. We won't have to wait much longer to find out more with free agency kicking off in March.
Saints 28-Year-Old Playmaker Projected To Land $30 Million Deal
Will the New Orleans Saints bring back one of their most important pass-catchers from the 2024 National Football League season?
New Orleans got a career year out of tight end Juwan Johnson and now he's heading to free agency. Johnson had a career-high 50 receptions and 548 receiving yards in 17 games. Johnson also had three touchdowns.
Johnson has been a big piece of the Saints' offense over the last five years, but it's too early to know if he will be back. Free agency will be here next month and Johnson is going to be one of the better tight ends on the open market. He had a two-year, $12 million deal with New Orleans but surely will get more now.
Spotrac currently is projecting Johnson to land a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency. That seems like a pretty fair price for Johnson. In comparison, David Njoku of the Cleveland Browns landed a four-year, $54 million deal.
The Saints unfortunately may not be able to bring Johnson to town. New Orleans has plenty of cap issues and it will be tough to afford to keep Johnson. They surely could find a way to get a deal done if they can clear up cap space elsewhere, but it may be tough. He has been a great member of the organization but at this point it wouldn't be a big shock to see him playing elsewhere by the time the 2025 season gets here.
