Saints are said to “prioritize” safety Marcus Williams
The New Orleans Saints are in one of the worst cap positions of any team in NFL history. They’ve easily at the bottom of the barrel in terms of available money for this coming free agency period; meaning, it’ll be tough for them to even re-sign their current free agents.
Pushing back dead money through these restructured contracts has finally caught up with the Saints, and it may force them to lose out on a couple of high-level free agents.
They may look to continue restructuring contracts yet again this offseason. They’ll need to if they have any desire to retain several of the contributors from last season’s NFC South-winning roster. Even then, they can’t bring them all back.
The Saints have three top-75 free agents and two top-30 free agents according to Pro Football Focus’s list of the top 200 NFL players to be hitting the open market. That said, there’s one player that the Saints plan to “prioritize” though.
The New Orleans Saints have several high-profile free agents hitting the open market, and they’ll reportedly be prioritizing Marcus Williams.
Despite a massive cap deficit, the Saints are expected to prioritize free agent safety Marcus Williams, I'm told. They want to keep him -- within financial reason, but he will have a strong market. Have also expressed interest in re-signing QB Jameis Winston.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 1, 2021
Williams is a 24-year-old safety that the team drafted in their elite 2017 draft class. Not a first-round pick, the Saints will have to gift the star a new contract. He was ranked the 13th-best free agent by PFF.
The 6-foot-1 safety was the team’s second-round pick. Since then, he’s blossomed into one of the best up-and-coming defensive backs in the NFL. Much like teammate Marshon Lattimore, his first in the league was arguably his best.
This past season, Williams recorded three interceptions. To go along with that, he notched 59 tackles and 7 passes defended. Williams did have the best missed-tackle rate of his career at under five percent. It neared 15 percent the season before.
He’s improving at a high rate, but given that he may be the best safety on the board, many teams will be making offers for him. Even PFF doesn’t have the Saints retaining Williams but rather has him heading to Jacksonville on a deal that would total over $14 million per year.
Williams is that good which is why it’ll be tough for the Saints to bring him back.
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But, he’s the priority, and Mickey Loomis typically figures out a way to get what he wants. That said, we’ll only have to wait a few more weeks to see if Williams returning can be a reality for the Saints.