New Orleans Saints Offseason Preview: Is the team safe at safety?
By Tony Twillie
Non-Bell safeties on the roster
As for the guys under contract, CGJ and Hampton just completed their rookie seasons, so they are good for several more seasons. JT Gray is a special teams guy and is a restricted free agent. He’s not a priority player, but I think the Saints will pay him since his hit will be very small.
Gray is one to keep particularly since the Saints couldn’t afford to keep Chris Banjo last year. Banjo is a free agent again this year, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him return here as the staff seems to love him.
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Marcus Williams is not due a contract until after this coming season as he’s just completed his third year. Often teams will attempt to jump the issue and get ahead of paying players they value. I don’t believe Williams will be one they look to try and get a deal done early on.
Unfortunately for him, he’s in the same class as Alvin Kamara, Ryan Ramczyk, and Marshon Lattimore, all of whom are more a priority to re-sign.
He will play this season on his rookie deal as the Saints likely try to get ahead of the curve on Kamara (taking advantage of his “down” season of 2019).
With Williams returning, Bell is the only question mark. It stands to reason that the Saints would go to Gardner-Johnson if Bell gets let go.
The question then would be who would replace his roster spot? Would they trust J.T. Gray as the backup and draft another player? Doubtful, unless there was a stud safety they were targeting in the draft. More likely they’d look at the free agents out there.