What is Taysom Hill's contract situation with Saints?

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New Orleans Saints reserve quarterback Taysom Hill impressed fans, teammates and coaches in the second week of the preseason. Hill took over for backup Teddy Bridgewater shortly before halftime and rallied the Saints back into it, overcoming a 17-3 deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers. Hill’s abilities were on full display as he ran and threw all over the Chargers defense. Comparisons to Steve Young have been floated.

It’s prompted questions among Saints fans as to who should be the heir apparent behind Drew Brees, a Hall of Fame-bound starter who’s nearing the end of his storied NFL career. The 26-year-old Bridgewater is the more conventional pick, and he’s mostly performed well against starting defenses from against the league. Hill, who turns 29 this week, is maybe more intriguing thanks to his athleticism and versatility, with experience at every position from slot receiver to gunner on special teams.

To add fuel to the fire, all three quarterbacks are on track for free agency after the 2019 season. Brees and Bridgewater will both be unrestricted free agents, but Hill’s situation is different. He will be a restricted free agent next March, and the Saints have a few options to retain his services.

Restricted free agents can be kept around on tender offers, each at varying levels. The one-year, fully guaranteed salary raises slightly from one fiscal year to the next (at a rate between 5 and 10 percent), but here’s what was available for the 2019 season:

-$2.025 million. This tender gives the Saints right of first refusal and compensation of a draft pick from the player’s original draft round. They can opt to match any contract offers Hill receives.
-$3.095 million. This offers right of first refusal and compensation of a second-round draft pick. That sounds like a lot, but teams commonly draft developmental quarterback prospects in this round (Drew Lock, DeShone Kizer and Christian Hackenberg among recent selections). It would be easy to justify spending that on Hill, who already has NFL experience.
-$4.407 million. The most-valuable level guarantees right of first refusal and compensation of a first-round selection. This is rarely handed out due to its salary cap cost (all $4.407 million counts against the cap) and the low likelihood of other teams matching it, forfeiting their top draft pick.

Because Hill entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie out of BYU (originally signed by the Green Bay Packers), the Saints will receive no compensation if they issue him the lowest-level tender. They can also bypass all of this by working out a long-term contract with Hill now, as they did recently with kicker Wil Lutz.

It’s too soon to say what the Saints will do, but it’s a safe bet they don’t let Hill walk away without at least trying to match any offers he receives. Considering their lack of a second-round pick in next year’s draft (having included it in a trade package that ended up turning into rookie center Erik McCoy and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson) and the possibility that Bridgewater re-signs after this year, they could go with that tender offer in hopes of winning a replacement pick. But that assumes the Saints like Bridgewater better, which isn’t a sure thing right now.

The good news is that the Saints have plenty of time to sort it out. There are two more preseason games and then a full season of practice tape to evaluate. There are many hypotheticals and questions — whether or not Brees retires, whether Bridgewater or Hill is the better option, whether Bridgewater is willing to wait another year for his opportunity — before they even get to the point of picking out a tender offer for Hill. But it’s good to know where they stand going into the season.