Projecting new contracts for prominent Saints free agents

Big-time New Orleans Saints free agents like Teddy Bridgewater, Vonn Bell, Andrus Peat, and David Onyemata will soon test the open market.

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The NFL’s legal tampering window is just days away from opening, with pending free agents around the league eligible to hear offers from other teams. That includes 20-plus players from the New Orleans Saints; we took a crack at identifying possible suitors for some of their higher-profile free agents, and made an educated guess at who might stay or leave for new opportunities.

But how much might some of these free agents earn on the open market? Here is what we came up with for four different candidates, leaning on the

Teddy Bridgewater

To estimate how much Bridgewater may earn on the open market, we started with looks at what similar players have signed for in the past. Backups-turned-starters like Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett each received bumps in pay that averaged more than $27 million per year, while Super Bowl LII hero Nick Foles saw his potential salary rise to $23 million as Carson Wentz’s backup; Foles later agreed to a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars that has him on the books for $22 million per year.

So our educated guess at Bridgewater’s ceiling remains the same as what we suggested back in October. If interested teams seriously view him as a starting franchise quarterback, he should command north of $25 million per year. But don’t be surprised if the glut of highly-drafted lame ducks around the league, like Mitchell Trubisky, depress Bridgewater’s market a bit. His market could top out around $20 million annually.