The New Orleans Saints have to pick their spots in free agency these days. And this year, they're betting big on one of their own.
For years, the Saints have had the NFL's toughest salary cap situation, thanks to years of restructuring contracts and kicking debts further down the road. It's gotten to a point where they have to do cap gymnastics every year to avoid breaking the bank, with barely anything left over to spend in free agency.
Therefore, when the Saints sign someone to a high eight-figure contract, they have to feel strongly that the player will perform. And on Monday, they gave out one of those contracts to a former Rookie of the Year who played well for them in 2024.
According to multiple reports, the Saints are in agreement with defensive end Chase Young on a three-year, $51 million deal, which can reach $57 million with incentives. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to report the news of the signing.
Young, 25, was the number-two overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award that year with the Washington Football Team. Unfortunately, he was limited to 12 games over the next two seasons, and hasn't quite lived up to the star status he built as a rookie in the years since.
However, in 2024, Young signed a one-year deal with the Saints, and he played as well as he had since he was a rookie. He had 5.5 sacks, a career-high 21 quarterback hits, and a career-high 34 pressures.
New Orleans will have more restructuring to do in order to fit Young's deal under the cap. They were $7.1 million over before the signing, per Over The Cap.
Retaining one defensive end doesn't take a team from 5-12 to the playoffs, but there's lots of upside for the Young signing. He's still very young, and he probably deserved a few more sacks than he got this season, which could easily find their way into the box scores in 2025.
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