3 reasons the Saints are a dark horse destination for Everson Griffen
The Saints have the cap space for it
In the past few years, the Saints have been extremely tied to the cap.
While Mickey Loomis has been able to do the unthinkable with navigating the cap in order to free up the necessary money to improve the roster, this time, the move was to release Pro Bowl guard Larry Warford, saving around $8 million.
They brought in first-round draft pick Cesar Ruiz to be his replacement. That said, many think that money may be used to extend a player like Alvin Kamara before the season begins.
More from Who Dat Dish
- Saints Training Camp: 5 players who had us talking after Day 9
- NOLA Saints should have passed on LB Kiko Alonso
- Saints HC Dennis Allen compares Taysom Hill’s role to the Joker
- Saints 2022 Training Camp: Top 4 takeaways from Day 8
- Saints need to extend C.J. Gardner-Johnson ASAP
With so many free agents this coming offseason on both sides of the ball, the team could opt to make those players prove themselves one more time and add a versatile threat like Griffen to the roster. Given his benchmarks and success, Griffen may still be out of the Saints’ price range.
“Griffen returned to the Vikings on a restructured deal in 2019, with three benchmarks that would allow him to opt out after this season: 6.5 sacks and playing on 57 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. With eight sacks and 78 percent of snaps played, Griffen cleared those totals with room to spare. As expected, he has now chosen to void the remaining years of his contract and enter free agency. Griffen was one of only two players in the NFL last season to have a player-controlled void in his contract,” InsideTheVikings’ Will Ragatz wrote.
The Saints are going to be a top contender, so they have that going for them. But, finding above an eight-figure deal to give Griffen could be tough. One of just a handful of teams with adequate space to add him, Griffen may lower his expectations and play on a one-year deal with New Orleans.