The Saints were among the NFL’s biggest spenders in signing undrafted free agents last year, but will that trend continue after the 2023 draft?
This is interesting. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero shared a report from the NFL Players Association breaking down each team’s spending on undrafted free agents from the 2022 rookie class — and few teams spent as heavily to recruit undrafted talent as the New Orleans Saints.
In total, the Saints guaranteed a whopping $1,242,000 to the rookies they signed after the 2022 draft. That’s double the average spending by team ($600,551), ranking third-most behind the Philadelphia Eagles ($1,882,000) and Dallas Cowboys ($1,842,500). Teams are limited by how much they can guarantee to undrafted players, and the Saints came close to maxing out their rookie pool.
So where did that money go? The Saints guaranteed $222,000 to former Weber State wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, one of the highest totals for an undrafted player around the league (despite him recovering from a torn ACL at the time). They signed 19 undrafted rookies to an average guaranteed signing bonus of $9,294, so Shaheed was someone they valued very highly. If he had been healthy they may have drafted him in the sixth round instead of Air Force defensive tackle Jordan Jackson, who spent his rookie year on the practice squad before jumping ship for the Denver Broncos; but that worked out better for Shaheed because only $176,688 of Jackson’s contract was guaranteed, because of his draft slot. Shaheed signing an undrafted rookie deal actually allowed him to get more money in guarantees.
But only two of those undrafted players made the roster, in Shaheed and backup offensive lineman Lewis Kidd. Eight others earned spots on the initial practice squad. Only the Indianapolis Colts (4 on the roster, 7 on the practice squad) and Jacksonville Jaguars (3 on the roster, 9 on the practice squad) had more first-year players make the team.
On one hand, that’s impressive, but on the other hand it goes to show how serious the depth issues have gotten in New Orleans that so many undrafted players were in the mix. The COVID-19 pandemic-fueled salary cap crunch hit them harder than most teams.
Still, the Saints have a history of finding value among the players who aren’t fortunate enough to hear their name called on draft day. They aren’t afraid to spend big to bring in players who they believe in. We’ll see who joins the list in 2023.
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