New Orleans Saints confident they’ll retain do-it-all QB Taysom Hill

The New Orleans Saints may not have much cap space to work with this offseason, but they are confident they’ll be bringing back Taysom Hill.

Becoming a fan favorite this past offseason after lining up in seemingly every offensive position, Taysom Hill will enter free agency with a restricted free agent tag slapped on his name. Well, the New Orleans Saints do not actually intend on letting him hit the open market.

Hill, 29, is a powerful 6-foot-2, do-it-all quarterback. He is versatile enough to line up in the wildcat while also has the steady hands that Sean Payton craves in his receivers and the quickness to get open when called upon.

Hill was an all-around monster this past season.

He ran for 10 first downs while receiving for 14 more. He was only allotted 27 rushes and 22 targets so those percentages relative to his first-down rate is extremely impressive. Hill also notched seven touchdowns, none as a quarterback.

But, the New Orleans Saints likely won’t be slapping an eight-figure salary on Hill even given his immense success in 2019. That said, if another teams opts for that, they may politely decline to match while picking up a first-round draft.

As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Saints plan to use their first-round restricted free agent tender on Hill, a move that covers them in case a quarterback-needy team comes from the woodwork and looks to make Hill their franchise quarterback.

Already planning to lose backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to free agency market, seeing another quarterback depart would be far from ideal for New Orleans. That would leave them in a position to potentially bring back Chase Daniels while also taking a chance on a QB deep in the draft.

However, Schefter also added that the team believes they’ll reach an agreement on an extension with Hill prior to the March 18th kickoff of free agency. This is good news, but the team would likely still want to add another competitor to complete the trio of quarterbacks.

The Saints clearly aren’t going to limit their spending on players they feel are destined for large roles on their roster. Hill is just another example of Mickey Loomis finding a way to retain his capable athletes.