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The New Orleans Saints have a handful of players whose contracts aren’t up just yet, but who should be considered for extensions ahead of schedule. Their 2019 draft class is now eligible to sign contract extensions, and they have some other players who are technically restricted free agents in 2022 — meaning they can be retained at little cost, effectively giving the team contract control for another year. But sometimes it’s worth going for a long-term deal sooner rather than later.
We’ve already discussed the top Saints unrestricted free agents and which of them may or may not re-sign with New Orleans. With few salary cap resources to work with right now, the Saints are going to be tempted to use their usual maneuvers — restructuring contracts and handing out prorated signing bonuses — to reach cap compliance, but they can also get under the cap while hammering out multiyear extensions with some players. It’s just a question of whether the timing is right. Here are five candidates: