New Orleans Saints: Taysom Hill’s price tag will be story of the offseason

The New Orleans Saints will have numerous difficult decisions to make this offseason, and one will revolve around how much to pay QB Taysom Hill.

Taysom Hill signed a three-year, $1.67 million contract back in 2017. That certainly paid off for the New Orleans Saints as Hill was one of their most-used players in 2019, playing almost every position on the offensive side of the ball.

Hill could be a returner, used as a tight end to either block or receiver, or put out wide. And, to showcase just how versatile he is, none of those have much to do with the position that he’s actually listed at: quarterback.

Seeing time in all 17 games for New Orleans in 2019, Hill only dropped back to pass in six of those. He was used primarily as a rusher or receiver. The athletic 6-foot-2 Hill made his mark late in the season, securing three touchdowns in the team’s last four games.

His versatility should make him a hot target this offseason.

With a restricted free agent tag, the Saints will have the ability to compete with any team that looks to sign him. However, the question that will come up is: Should they? At what cost is it right to let Hill leave?

There are certainly teams out there like Tampa Bay or Carolina that could thrive off a mobile, agile quarterback. But, the sample size on Hill’s actual quarterback skill is rather small, and it’d be shocking to see any team toss over eight figures at him.

With March 18 nearing, the call for Hill will eventually pile in, and before that happens, the Saints need to look at how much they value him. He was an integral part of their offense, but people are unrealistic to think he’s the second coming of Lamar Jackson.

Hill is a great player, and the Saints need to hope one of these quarterback-hungry teams doesn’t give him an offer he cannot resist.