Kaden Elliss' contract details finally answers one burning question

When you think about positional versatility in football, wide receiver, running back and safety tend to be the first positions. You never know where these positions will line up. Kaden Elliss is a part of the movement of off ball linebackers joining that group. Elliss is an off ball linebacker in name, but he's way more than your traditional linebacker. The incentives the New Orleans Saints gave him over the next 3 years reaffirms that belief.

Elliss doesn't have tackle incentives. He has sack incentives. Eliss' ability to get after the quarterback was always one of, if not, the biggest reasons to be excited about the signing. There was curiosity around if the Saints would use him as an edge rusher at times. The contract incentives let you know the answer is a resounding yes. Consider Elliss a happy man seeing that he told reporters he is a "pass rusher at heart" though he acknowledges he'll probably play mostly off the ball.

Kaden Elliss could be the Saints' defensive Taysom Hill

There's no true equivalent to Taysom Hill's do it all ability. The man played quarterback, fullback, running back and tight end. Realistically, no defender is going to do all of that. You may get a cornerback who slides into the slot, like Alontae Taylor did, but that's still in the same position room. Elliss going between linebacker and edge rusher is the closest you'll get to Hill-like versatility.

While other defenders will be used in different ways and placed all over the field, they won't be truly playing different positions. Don't be surprised to see snaps where Elliss is truly an edge rusher. Not just lined up on the edge or blitzing around the corner. Elliss will likely play true snaps at edge rusher, and the Saints could still put two off ball linebackers on the field.

It's hard to see a future where Elliss surpasses his career high 7 sacks as a pure blitzing inside linebacker. On a recent episode of the Saints Squad Show, Lance Moore recently described the perfect situation to deploy the returning Saint as an edge defender. In a NASCAR package, it makes sense to put Elliss on the edge. The point of the package is to get the fastest pass rush combination on the field.

Putting Elliss on the edge would accomplish the goal. That's just one of multiple ways Brandon Staley can utilize Elliss. Whether he's reading or reacting as a traditional off ball linebacker, blitzing or lining up off the edge, Kaden Elliss gives the Saints a defender teams have to know where he's at on each play. That versatility adds a step of processing for the opposing offense and can only benefit the Saints defense.