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Which roster move ranks worst in the Sean Payton era for the New Orleans Saints? They’ve signed bigger busts in free agency like Jairus Byrd or Jason David, and squandered draft picks on whiffs like Sedrick Ellis and Stephone Anthony, but the five-year contract extension they signed Andrus Peat to this year might take the cake.
The Saints tried him out at four different positions before he settled in at left guard, where the 27-year old has remained for most of his 75 starts. But after seeing him struggle for five years — often missing games due to a lengthy injury history — and with a mountain of game tape and practice experience to review, they decided to double up with five more years for the former first-round pick. Unlike those draft busts and free agent misses, the Saints had ample opportunity to see how Peat could perform in their system. What we’re seeing now is more of the same from him.
He’s rewarded them by ranking second-worst in pressures allowed, per Pro Football Focus (only rookie center-guard convert Cesar Ruiz has more, with 22 pressures on 334 pass-block reps; Peat has 20 on 393 snaps), including a team-high 4 sacks. Injuries including a concussion and an ankle sprain have continued to limit his availability, and he’s been a weak link in the offensive line even when healthy. He was an early antagonist in Week 14’s upset defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, missing an open-field block (normally an area of strength for him) to lose yards on a designed screen. And it only got worse from there.
So how soon can the Saints punt on this and get out of their contract with him? Peat’s 2022 base salary (valued at $10.85 million) becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2021 league year, setting the deadline for New Orleans to take action at 4 p.m. ET on March 19, 2021. If they can’t find a trade partner for the two-time Pro Bowl alternate or cut him outright, Peat will carry salary cap hits of $11.6 million in 2021, $13.45 million in 2022, and $14.425 million in both 2023 and 2024.
If Peat is released before March 19, the Saints will suffer an additional $7.8 million in salary cap penalties for 2021 as his future signing bonus payments accelerate. But they can save as much as $1.2 million by releasing him, with greater savings on the way in 2022 and beyond. But waiting until after that March 19 deadline would set them back significantly for years to come.
In other words, the Saints have a choice: they can cut him in March and eat a big loss in salary cap accounting, or wait until 2023, when they’ll first recoup some resources by parting with him (saving $9.225 million in cap space). There are still games to play this year, but the clock is effectively ticking on when exactly they’d like to take this gut punch.
Peat’s poor performance has set the team up for the worst-case scenario this third-day trigger was designed for, possibly forcing them to hit eject on a multiyear contract they signed just months ago. It’s a big swing and a miss for the scouting department, and maybe the salary cap gurus in the front office who put too hefty an offer on the negotiating table.
And it’s a contract they never should have offered in the first place. If Peat had been allowed to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, New Orleans might be favored to win next week’s matchup (instead, the Chiefs are 3.5-point road favorites, per BetMGM). But it is what it is.
Finding an answer at left guard after Peat is gone (whenever that is; for now, we’re only talking hypotheticals) won’t be easy. Veteran backup Nick Easton has played well when called upon, but he’s suffered two concussions this year, and multiple brain injuries stacking up has ended careers before. Maybe the Saints could move center Erik McCoy to left guard and put Easton at right guard, shifting Ruiz back to his natural alignment from college. But that’s a lot of work that could have been avoided.
The Saints looked at their shortcomings in 2019 and their first-round playoff exit — when the Minnesota Vikings defensive line bullied Peat, McCoy, and three-time Pro Bowler Larry Warford — they chose to cut Warford, extend Peat, and draft a college center and make him change positions in a shortened offseason. So far, that plan hasn’t worked out. The Philadelphia Eagles defensive line had their way with Peat, McCoy, and Ruiz just as badly as the Vikings did in January.
If things don’t turn around in a hurry, New Orleans will end up right where it started. And either with as much as $19.4 million in dead money tied to Peat’s contract after his departure or even more committed to him remaining a liability for the years ahead.
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