Projecting Market Values for Top Saints Free Agents (Saintswire article)

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The NFL’s 2019 free agency period is rapidly approaching the New Orleans Saints, and they’re going to have a number of tough negotiations to work through. Several of the Saints’ in-house free agents should return on veteran’s minimum contracts, but most of them will require bigger deals to remain in New Orleans: guys like Teddy Bridgewater, Mark Ingram, and the other players on this list. Here’s our take for what’s in store for each player, compared to what their peers have received from other teams.

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QB Teddy Bridgewater: $22 million per year

Bridgewater’s contract voids early in March, and he’ll have the opportunity to negotiate with teams ahead of schedule. It’s tough to pin down his contract value, but the voided years in his Saints deal come out to about $22 million per year. That would clock in between Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson as the eleventh-highest paid salary. Look for Kirk Cousins’ three year, fully-guaranteed contract to become standard among starting quarterbacks like Bridgewater.

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CB P.J. Williams: $5.25 million per year

Williams could have been due a big payday but he has a driving-while-influenced charge hanging over his head. Slot defenders like him are paid like starters in today’s NFL, and if he’s cleared of charges it wouldn’t be shocking to see him draw a contract worth about $5 million per year. But if that stigma sticks with him, he may have to play at the veteran’s minimum. We’ll set his ceiling at three years, $16 million with $8 million guaranteed — a little less than what Nickell Robey-Coleman got.

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DT Tyeler Davison: $5 million per year

Davison is largely an unremarkable player, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see a team overpay him in a bid to improve their run defense. Look at the deal Philadelphia Eagles backup nose tackle Beau Allen received last year from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: three years, $15 million with $6.5 million in guarantees.

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RB Mark Ingram: $4.5 million per year

We dug deeper into Ingram’s contract outlook here, and arrived at this conclusion: two years, $9.1 million with $5 million guaranteed at signing. That average annual value of $4.55 million per year would rank fifteenth in the NFL, sitting between Dion Lewis at $4.95 million and Marshawn Lynch at $4.5. Running backs at his age just aren’t highly paid in the NFL.

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DE Alex Okafor: $4.5 million per year

Hopefully Okafor will choose to stay with the Saints on his current contract. But he hit enough incentives to activate his 2019 player option, should he choose to exercise it. If he does, Okafor could get a contract as large as what Brooks Reed ($22.5 million over five years) or Kareem Martin ($15 million over three years, with $7.25 million guaranteed) signed.

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DB Chris Banjo: $1.75 million per year

Banjo is another key special teams contributor who has made an impact in his few snaps outside the coverage units. He has appeared sparingly on defense (just 86 snaps the last two years) but logged three interceptions. Safeties were in low demand last offseason, so the best Banjo can probably find would be a two-year, $3.5 million deal — close to what his former teammate, Rafael Bush, found with the Buffalo Bills.

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WR Dez Bryant: $1.25 million per year

The Saints agreed to a one-year contract with Bryant that sat just above the veteran’s minimum at $1.25 million, with no guarantees. It featured escalating incentives based off receptions, beginning at $50,000 for 25 catches and topping at $200,000 for 40. If Bryant makes a healthy return from his Achilles injury, he would probably give it another go with the Saints on another low-cost deal.

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LB Craig Robertson: $1 million per year

Robertson will probably agree to a veteran’s minimum contract, qualifying him for about $930,000 per year. Given his special teams prowess and past experience as a starter, some team could opt to pay him more than $1 million per year. The Saints probably want to retain their special teams captain, so a two year, $2 million contract with about $1.2 million in guarantees would be ideal.

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