4 best contracts on the Saints roster right now
By Kristen Wong
The New Orleans Saints have gained a reputation for fielding a competitive team year after year without having to rebuild, and that’s thanks to the cap space experts in the front office.
Some contracts, like that of Taysom Hill, make us scratch our heads, but by and large NOLA has been masterful at signing elite players and pushing their cap space problems down the road.
After all, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?
The Saints got oodles of cap space this offseason trying to make room for the potential arrival of Deshaun Watson, and though that didn’t pan out as well as they would have liked, the team was able to sign a few big-name players afterward.
Here are four of the best contracts on the Saints roster in 2022.
Saints’ Player No. 4: Tyrann Mathieu
Mathieu easily ranks as the Saints’ best offseason signing, and it’s not hard to see why.
NOLA and Mathieu agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract including $18 million fully guaranteed.
Yet the three-time All Pro carries a 2022 salary cap hit of just $3.4 million, and his deal is structured such that Mathieu is guaranteed to be paid in 2022 and 2023, but the Saints can move on from him in 2024 if desired.
The Saints, being the Saints, could also restructure his contract to free up cap space in future years. All in all, a very solid and a very Saints-like deal.
The Honey Badger brings nine years of experience to New Orleans’ backfield and was a necessary addition after the departures of Malcolm Jenkins and Marcus Williams. Mathieu is already quite beloved in NOLA, and he’ll make a crucial impact on the defense for the next two years at least.