In a surprise to no one, the New Orleans Saints opted to keep the franchise tag in their pocket. Alontae Taylor, Demario Davis, Cam Jordan will be free agents unless the Saints get a deal done within the next eight days.
It’s important to remember teams aren’t forced to use the franchise tag, and for a team like the Saints, it didn’t make the most sense. Tagging any of these players would have felt like tagging just for the sake of tagging.
The Saints chose to not use the franchise tag, but they were still impacted by it. The Jets made the expected move to place the tag on running back Breece Hall. There was a belief it would be the transition tag, but they landed on the more secure franchise tag. It’s nonexclusive, but any team that pries away Hall will have to give up two first rounders on top of the contract. Hall to the Saints always felt like a long shot, but the Jets’ move essentially took the top running back off the board for everyone, including the Saints.
Alontae Taylor was the Saints’ only real franchise tag contender
The Saints aren’t in a place where the franchise tag is used to keep a crucial piece to your Super Bowl window on the team. The Jets’ usage of a tag on Hall is another example of a good reason for a bad team to use the tag. The Jets are tagging Hall to try to negotiate a long term contract.
Taylor could check the box in that regard. He’s a young player, so it would make sense for the Saints for the Saints to look to lock him down.Jordan and Davis are veterans in the latter portion of their career. The contract they’ll be getting in free agency won’t be nearly top end dollar. It wouldn’t make sense to slap the tag on them and give them millions of dollars more than what they would earn on the market.
That left Taylor as the only possible contender, but it never felt like a real option for the Saints and Taylor. Of course they want the defensive back on the roster in 2026, but they weren’t willing to put the franchise tag on him to make it happen. Taylor will try his hand in free agency, and the Saints will have to take their chances with him on the open market.