Why Saints’ Taysom Hill one-year extension was a huge mistake

The Saints signed Taysom Hill to a one-year $16 million extension on top of his RFA tender to hold Hill down through 2021, here’s how it was a mistake.

When it came down to the thought of losing versatile quarterback Taysom Hill, the Saints quickly hated the idea and slapped a first-round tender on him. That meant that any teams willing to offer Hill a contract had to give up their first-round pick.

That is a huge price for a gadget quarterback that saw only a handful of passes thrown in his career, but I will admit that Taysom Hill is one of a kind that the NFL really hasn’t seen this caliber of a player before.

After no team thought that Hill was worth giving up a first-round pick, the Saints had to give Hill what the value of a first-round tender was. Therefore, the Saints were stuck with Hill for over $4.5 million through the 2020 season.

There was a mix of fans that loved the fact that Hill was back with the team, and there was another mix that though $4.5 million was a lot to be spending on a potential third-string quarterback on the roster.

Either way, the Saints were stuck through 2020. This is where things get delusional though. Taysom Hill was worth $4.5 million per year, sure. He was a “quarterback” who was ending his prime and wanted to be the star starter somewhere. He was worth that but only that.

Obviously, with Drew Brees, that wasn’t going to be the case in 2020 for the Saints. Even if Brees’ retires after this season or does at the end of 2021, Taysom Hill is not the next “face of the franchise” for the New Orleans Saints.

So the only obvious solution was to extend the “quarterback” to a $16 million one-year extension — straight-up absurd. Now, Hill will become the second-highest per year player on the team, and he is the third-string quarterback although he does play numerous positions.

Taysom Hill will never be more than a gadget player at multiple positions, and now you have an overpriced backup quarterback/receiver/blocker.

Unfortunately, that $16 million might cost them next year when they want to re-sign Alvin Kamara or Sheldon Rankins — both of much higher value to the organization.