This is a bit of a relief. The New Orleans Saints wrote injury protections into their free agent contract with defensive end Chase Young, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. We’ll have to wait and see what shape those protections take, but typically they wipe out guarantees to save salary cap resources if a player doesn’t meet certain performance goals for play time. That can mean either games started, a percentage of snaps played, or something similar.
News broke Tuesday that Young would be undergoing neck surgery after signing his fully-guaranteed $13 million contract with the Saints, which sparked an uproar among Saints fans. While the reported expectation is for Young to miss most of the offseason program and return during training camp, there’s always the chance of complication or slow recovery. He isn’t expected to miss the start of the regular season. If he does miss time in September, the Saints have taken steps to protect themselves.
And Young knows that. He’ll have every incentive to attack his rehab and get back on the field as soon as possible. He won’t see the full $13 million he agreed to play for if he doesn’t. So it’s good to see the Saints were being proactive, too. Stay tuned for further details.
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