NFL Free Agency: Saints are making smart moves but what’s next?

So far, so good.

No analysts nationally would place the Saints in the top echelon for its moves in free agency, thus far.

From the perspective of the Saints, they feel solid about where they are at this point. Now, they want to feel more solid about where they will be in the near future.

First and foremost, Drew Brees is back at an affordable price and a more friendly deal for the franchise. With his salary, Brees is right at the mark of being the 14th highest paid quarterback in the league, a bargain, given his ability and level of play, even at the age of 41. The $25 million annual salary can be voided after 2021 as well.

In December, he was the best quarterback in the NFL, completing 75 percent of his passes with 15 touchdown passes and no interceptions. He led the league in completion percentage and had 27 touchdown passes and just four interceptions for the season, which covered 11 games for him due to the thumb injury and surgery he dealt with. The dead money from his previous deal is deferred, pushed back to help the organization in the present.

The first-round tender to Taysom Hill virtually ensured he is remaining in New Orleans as a tremendously valued overall player and perhaps as the quarterback of the future, though that is still to be determined.

Hill was the only player in the league to receive a first-round tender. The intrigue of Hill’s off-the-charts athletic ability and big arm at the quarterback position is impossible to ignore but questions remain about his ability to make proper decisions and about his accuracy.

With Brees and Hill back in the fold, the Saints simply could not afford Teddy Bridgewater, who was a clear asset here and could have been their quarterback of the future.

As stated many times, were the Saints an average or below average team, the proper move would have been to retain Bridgewater, to turn the keys over to him and to allow Brees to retire or to play elsewhere.

The Saints are an above average team, a contender, and Brees is unquestionably the best option and the best player to perhaps get a team over the top which has seen its last three seasons end with a miracle completion in Minnesota, a terrible call in New Orleans and an overtime loss with a questionable non-call to end the game against the Vikings this past season.

The Saints retained David Onyemata and Zach Wood with new deals.

Onyemata is still growing, improving.

The Saints got him as a player who had hardly played the sport. He is learning and he is a force, solid at the point of attack, physical and has a nasty streak despite a soft spoken man off the field. New Orleans has been good against the run and Onyemata has been a big part of that success. Onyemata graded out at 55.5, according to Pro Football Focus. The investment of three years and 27 million for a player who is 27.

Wood is simply one of the best long snappers in the NFL. Retaining him was a no-brainer as he continues the excellent trio of specialists, including Thomas Morstead and Wil Lutz. The four year deal appears to be at a reasonable value.

The move to acquire Malcolm Jenkins was an interesting move.

Sean Payton has stated that letting Jenkins get away after the 2013 season was one of his biggest regrets in his tenure with the franchise.

The deal for Jenkins is at four years, $32 million. There are incentives in the deal that could make him an additional $3 million.

Jenkins is a natural leader. He is also another piece to the vast Ohio State connection here.

The Saints were trying to grow with a young secondary including Marcus Williams, Vonn Bell and Marshon Lattimore.

With Jenkins, the Saints get a veteran leader to help groom the young talent into a more cohesive unit, hopefully still serving as a solid player while also serving as a virtual coach on the field. The same is true of veteran Janoris Jenkins, who played well after arriving in New Orleans and is 31.

The Saints allowed Jenkins to leave for Philadelphia and the organization thought it was upgrading the safety spot by signing Jairus Byrd, instead. That turned out to be an awful decision as Byrd was a shadow of the player he had been in Buffalo and was a liability throughout his entire -year stint with the Saints.

Meanwhile, Jenkins went to the Eagles and won a Super Bowl and went to three Pro Bowls.

Bell is a solid, improving young player.

Do the Saints simply not value him?

The feeling is that the coaching staff appreciates Bell and understands his value, but that given the amount of money it would take to retain him, it would be a bit prohibitive, not unlike the decision that was made concerning allowing Kenny Vaccaro to walk after the 2017 season, signing with Tennessee.

Vaccaro was a solid, serviceable player but not worth big money. Vaccaro graded out at 63.9 overall by Pro Football Focus in 2019. Bell ranked similarly, at 64.6. Jenkins was at 68.6.

Renegotiating the deals of Patrick Robinson and Kiko Alonso were sound moves.

When on the field, both performed admirably a year ago.

Robinson graded out at 62, according to Pro Football Focus. Alonso graded out at a solid 70.9 but he is coming off of a torn ACL injury suffered in the playoff loss to Minnesota. By all accounts, Alonso is recovering nicely and should be ready for the 2020 season. Robinson has recovered from the broken ankle that kept him out of five games a year ago.

The move to retain Robinson likely means the Saints will not retain PJ Williams.

In 2019, Williams graded out at 51, according to Pro Football Focus. He is a good tackler, physical, but not dependable in coverage on the outside. Williams is clearly built to cover inside receivers from the slot position but is he worth investing in, now that Robinson is back in the fold?

By renegotiating, Robinson now has salary cap numbers which make sense to the Saints. In 2020, that number is valued at $3.22 million and in 2021, $3.35 million, according to Spotrac.com.

Ted Ginn Jr. is 35 and his productivity is decreasing annually. Lacking interest elsewhere, Ginn could return at an inexpensive cost, though the Saints must get better at that spot. Ginn caught just 30 passes despite playing all 16 games a year ago.

Omameh did a decent job in reserve in 2019, grading out at 58.6 according to Pro Football Focus.

With the possible departure of Andrus Peat, Omameh could be retained to provide insurance at tackle.

While Peat is a serviceable player, he has not played to the level of the 13th overall pick, which he was in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Despite making Pro Bowls the last two years, Peat has been an average player.

Peat allowed three sacks in 2019 in regular season and recorded a 49.7 grade from Pro Football Focus this past season, not an impressive mark.

Peat is 26. If he attracts a good offer elsewhere, he is likely departing. If he does not, the Saints may keep him at a more affordable price.

Peat is valued because of his versatility, his ability to slide to left tackle to play for the oft-injured Terron Armstead.

The concern at guard is real.

Larry Warfoed is entering the final year of his contract.

After a disappointing season in 2018, Warford rebounded to grade out much higher than Peat at 73.1 in 2019, ranked as one of the top 25 linemen in the league by Pro Football Focus.

In fact, Ryan Ramczyk (top 10), Armstead and Erik McCoy also ranked among the top 25 offensive linemen in the NFL in 2019. Armstead would rank higher if he can stay on the field more often.

Will the Saints address the need for a wide receiver in the upcoming draft or would they venture into free agency?

New Orleans saved a bunch of money by converting salary dollars for Michael Thomas and Armstead into bonus money and by renegotiating the deals of Robinson and Alonso to free up some dollars.

Despite the recent moves to improve their tight budget against the salary cap, the Saints still lack a significant amount of money to spend. If there is a receiver worth investing in, that would be Robby Anderson.

At just 26, Anderson is an intriguing player.

He has been with a bad team with the New York Jets with inconsistent, shaky, sometimes bad quarterback play and he has been good.

Anderson went undrafted out of Temple, despite running a 4.36 at Temple’s Pro Day.

Undaunted, he signed with the Jets, made the team, and made his mark immediately.

In four seasons, Anderson has caught 207 passes for 3,059 yards and 20 touchdowns.

In 2019, Anderson caught 52 passes for 778 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 15 yards per reception.

Another factor is the stature of Anderson.

At six-foot 3, 190 pounds, Anderson is the kind of receiver Payton loves, tall, with a big catch radius. He measured a 36 ½ inch vertical leap coming out of college.

As an added bonus, he can run.

Of course, he will cost quite a sum of money but he is worth keeping an eye on.

Fortunately, the NFL draft has a plethora of good wide receiver prospects that the Saints could tap into.

So far, so good. Now, it is time to keep that good mojo going.