Tag: andrus peat

Saints guaranteed every dollar of Chase Young’s $13 million contract

The New Orleans Saints guaranteed every dollar of Chase Young’s $13 million contract. But his real salary cap hit might be much lower:

Whew. This is a big deal. The New Orleans Saints guaranteed every dollar of their $13 million contract with free agent defensive end Chase Young, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and confirmed by CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson.

But as is always the case with this team, don’t expect that to mean a simple $13 million salary cap charge on their accounting books. Depending on how this deal is structured, Young’s cap hit for 2024 could be as low as $3.5 million. Here’s how the accounting would look with four “ghost years” set to void at the end of the 2024 league year:

  • 2024 salary: $1,125,000; signing bonus proration: $2,375,000
  • 2025 signing bonus proration: $2,375,000
  • 2026 signing bonus proration: $2,375,000
  • 2027 signing bonus proration: $2,375,000
  • 2028 signing bonus proration: $2,375,000

The risk in doing this is that the Saints would be left with a dead money cap charge of $9.5 million next offseason should Young not re-sign on a new deal.

But the Saints have shown us before they’re comfortable paying that if need be. Andrus Peat is counting against the cap by more than $13.6 million and Marcus Maye has a dead money hit of $8.1 million for 2024 — and they both visited the Tennessee Titans on Monday as free agents who the Saints chose to let go. They paid comparable dead money hits in 2023 for David Onyemata ($10.1 million) and Marcus Davenport ($7.6 million).

If this is the route the Saints go, choosing to create short-term flexibility while jeopardizing future cap resources, it’s only a problem if Young fails to perform as expected in 2024. If he turns out to be a free agent bust and both sides move on, well: the Saints will have bigger problems to worry about  than where 3.4% of their salary cap is going. It’ll mean the pass rush failed to show up, again, and that the team lost a lot of games. And that Dennis Allen probably isn’t their head coach anymore. So when you take a big-picture view, this isn’t as big a gamble for the Saints at it might look at first glance.

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Saints free agent OL Andrus Peat visiting Titans on Monday

New Orleans Saints free agent Andrus Peat is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Monday. The veteran offensive lineman could be in high demand:

New Orleans Saints free agent Andrus Peat is visiting the Tennessee Titans on Monday, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The veteran offensive lineman could be in high demand after playing well at left tackle in 2023, having spent most of his NFL career at left guard.

If Peat is signed away by another team, the Saints will not receive a compensatory pick in the 2025 NFL draft. That’s because he agreed to a reworked contract last summer which cost him a pay cut, with the Saints agreeing to tear up the last year of his deal, allowing him to reach free agency ahead of schedule.

That’s a tough break seeing as the Saints are forfeiting $13,638,000 in dead money after past restructures with Peat. That’s how much salary cap space they’ll be without if he’s playing elsewhere, without the promise of a comp pick coming back in next year’s draft.

But it might be necessary. Peat has struggled with injuries throughout his career, being limited to 111 of 147 possible games in the regular season. The Saints overpaid him relative to performance and have had to work around his contract for a while, so this dead money cap hit isn’t anything new. If this is it for Peat in New Orleans, he’ll be off the books altogether in 2025. And if he’s leaving the Saints need to invest in a quality insurance policy should Trevor Penning continue to struggle at left tackle.

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Titans, free-agent OL Andrus Peat set for visit

The Titans are set for a free-agent visit with three-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Andrus Peat.

The Tennessee Titans are reportedly expected to meet with former New Orleans Saints offensive lineman, Andrus Peat.

The news comes from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who notes that the Titans are scheduled to meet with Peat on Monday.

A former first-round pick of the Saints, Peat has been a full-time starter since entering the league and offers versatility with his ability to play guard and tackle.

In 2023, Peat played 715 snaps at left tackle and 89 at left guard, giving up two sacks and 30 total pressures. In the years before that, the 30-year-old played primarily at left guard, where he received three Pro Bowl nods.

Peat could be the Titans’ insurance policy at left tackle in the event the team doesn’t land a Day 1 starter at the position in the 2024 NFL draft, something I’d expect them to do at No. 7 or No. 38 overall.

If Tennessee does land its left tackle of the future, Peat could compete for a starting spot at either right guard or right tackle. Of course, left guard is already claimed by 2023 first-round pick, Peter Skoronski.

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Andrus Peat didn’t re-sign with Saints before deadline, costing $13M in dead money

Andrus Peat didn’t re-sign with the Saints before Wednesday’s deadline, costing the team more than $13M in dead money. He’s now a free agent:

Andrus Peat might be playing for a team besides the New Orleans Saints in 2024, ending his nine-year run with the team that drafted him. The Saints were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension with Peat prior to Wednesday’s deadline, which means they’re paying $13,638,000 in dead money for him to at least explore the market before making a decision.

One silver lining: this won’t impact the team’s salary cap situation or their projected cap space figure (more than $15 million). Peat’s cap hit was already factored into those calculations. It could have been reduced with an extension, but it won’t climb higher in his absence now that his contract has  voided. He also won’t count into the compensatory picks formula in the 2025 NFL draft.

Peat was on the outs with the Saints this time last year. He was forced to accept a pay cut in the spring and demoted to the third-string offensive line over the summer. When the team was shorthanded and frustrated with Trevor Penning’s too-slow improvement at left tackle, they moved Peat back to his college position for the first time in years.

And he thrived there, only allowing two sacks on more than 400 snaps inn pass protection. Now he’s 30 and facing his last great opportunity to cash in on a lucrative NFL contract. The Saints could have extended Peat sooner to avoid paying out that $13.6 million left over from past restructures, but he likely wanted to test the market before agreeing to a new deal.

It’s still possible Peat may return to close out his career with New Orleans. A new contract with the Saints wouldn’t impact that dead money charge against the salary cap but it would insure the team is getting something for paying him anyway. 30-and-over starters with Peat’s versatility as an inside-out lineman who can play both guard and tackle aren’t being paid as much as their younger peers, but there are enough offensive lines in poor shape around the league to where he should receive some offers as a free agent.

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1 pending free agent the Colts could target from each NFC team

Taking a look at one pending free agent for the Colts from each NFC team.

With free agency right around the corner, the Indianapolis Colts have the chance to make some key additions to a roster that already has some promise.

Working with some of the most salary-cap space in the NFL this offseason, general manager Chris Ballard and the front office can continue to add pieces to the defensive side of the ball while improving the supporting cast for quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Re-signing some of their own players like Michael Pittman Jr., Grover Stewart and Kenny Moore II will be key. But they also could look around the conference to bring in some outside talent.

We know Ballard isn’t one to make huge splashes in free agency, but they are still going to be an active team even if it means simply adding depth.

Here’s a look at one pending free agent from each NFC team that should interest the Colts:

Projected market value for Saints’ top pending free agents

Here’s a quick look at projected market value for some of the New Orleans Saints’ top pending free agents, including complicated cases like Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston:

We’re just a few weeks away from the start of free agency, and the New Orleans Saints have a couple of players who could hit the open market — including several starters and some ascending backups hoping for larger roles in 2024.

But could the Saints get priced out of their services? Different outlets have projected market values for some of New Orleans’ pending free agents, so let’s take a look at the numbers from Pro Football Focus, Spotrac, and Over The Cap:

List of the 24 New Orleans Saints free agents in 2024

Be prepared for 2024 free agency with a list of the Saints pending free agents. These 24 players could entertain offers on the open market:

Free agency is around the corner and the New Orleans Saints will be looking to reload their roster in hopes of ending a three year playoff drought. Before they accumulate talent, they must first decide which players they want to retain.

There are three types of free agents:

  • UFA: Unrestricted free agents who can entertain offers from other teams, but who are eligible for the franchise tag
  • RFA: Restricted free agents who the Saints can match offers for from other teams
  • ERFA: Exclusive rights free agents who can only play for the Saints on a minimum salary

So keep that in mind as we run through the list of 24 pending free agents for the Saints:

Saints must address these 4 positions this offseason

In order to be better than 9-8 and make the playoffs, the Saints must improve at these 4 positions:

The New Orleans Saints ended last season with a 9-8 record with an easy schedule. Obviously, the team has a lot of room to improve. The first step was adding Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator. His addition should help New Orleans win with scheme as well as talent instead of relying strictly on the players.

There need to be improvements to the roster as well. There is a lot of uncertainty along the offensive line at a couple of positions. That is the paramount concern as it has the ability to cripple the offense. What are the other biggest positions of need?

4 free agents the Saints should re-sign this offseason

The New Orleans Saints don’t have many high-profile free agents, but they should make an effort to keep these four players:

The New Orleans Saints don’t have a lot of big-name free agents this year, but the Saints do have a few names that are worth saving. Head coach Dennis Allen is aware of what’s at stake for him this year and should understand there are some holes you can’t go into the season hoping will fill themselves.

Because they were so proactive last summer signing players to early extensions, the Saints also showed better depth than they have in previous years, especially on defense. Injuries are going to happen in the NFL, and the Saints weathered that storm in 2023. This is a quality they should look to repeat next season by keeping some depth pieces in free agency.

These are four players the Saints should re-sign:

Saints free agent preview: OL Andrus Peat, stay or go?

Next up in our New Orleans Saints free agent previews: Andrus Peat. Should the veteran offensive lineman stay or go?

We’ve already touched on two of the high-profile New Orleans Saints players likely headed for free agency in Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston, so we’ll keep it going and discuss Andrus Peat’s future with the team.

The Saints only kept Peat on the roster last offseason after convincing him to take a pay cut, and he was kicked down to the bottom of the depth chart in training camp. For a while he looked like a candidate to be released during roster cuts. But Trevor Penning’s poor performance to start the season pushed him back into the lineup at left tackle, and Peat finished the year as New Orleans’ best option to protect Derek Carr’s blind side.

But that’s simplifying things. Let’s take a deeper look: