With free agency looming almost a month and a half away(March 9th), the period leading up to it can be almost like the build up to Christmas morning for a child.
You spend a good chunk of time making a wish list of what you want in hopes of landing that one present you’ve been dreaming of or at least get several less prioritized gifts that still make the experience of ripping open that package satisfying and delightful.
There is also the fear in the back of your mind as you look at what appears to be a colorfully wrapped package in all it’s glory, is instead a heart-wrenching disappointment awaits you in something you didn’t ask for or maybe even want to begin with.
Think Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” as he unleashed the gift of a pink bunny onesie pajamas from Aunt Clara on that crisp winter morn.
Heaven knows that the New Orleans Saints have had their fair share of those during free agency and there are a some valid fears from the fanbase as the date approaches.
The One That Got Away
Generally most teams in the NFL begin free agency in-house with taking a look at their current roster of players and decide who can continue to the teams championship march and who needs to be left behind.
The one thing no team wants to do is hang onto a player past their expiration date or let a player walk who can still perform at a high level or is on the upswing.
The Saints have several free agents that can help with providing depth at positions of need like cornerback or the offensive line.
Veteran cornerbacks Kyle Wilson and Sterling Moore should be re-signed not only for their experience but they showed that they can still be called upon to fill in when needed although Wilson was derailed this past season with an injury.
Offensive guard Jahri Evans, after an awkwardly brief departure then return, defied some critics and played well this past season and is another one the team will likely look to bring back.
Fullback John Kuhn was also a nice surprise and compliment on offense the Saints picked up and likely sign a veteran and cap friendly deal as he did in 2016 which was for $985,000.
The team then may have to do some soul searching when it comes to other players like running back Tim Hightower who when has a great blocking effort from the offensive line, can look pretty decent even if he is just a short yardage back.
Do you try and sign a free agent that can be your next Darren Sproles creating mismatch problems in the backfield who also contributes on special teams as a returner(which they tried already ala C.J. Spiller)?
Do you task somebody like Daniel Lasco with being your new short yardage guy and trust he’ll stay healthy while letting Hightower walk?
Along with other pending free agents like offensive guard Tim Lelito, running back Travaris Cadet, and defensive end Darryl Tapp, do their contributions from the past serve you going forward into the future?
These are just a few questions the front office and coaches will have to make sure they don’t let the right guy leave or the wrong one stay.
“Fair”-ley Market Value
One name that has been discussed heavily as a priority in-house free agent for the team is defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who along with linebacker Craig Robertson, the Saints struck gold on in the open market last year.
Fairley had the best season of his six years in the NFL as a Saint where he totaled 43 combined tackles and 6.5 sacks while also not only playing in all sixteen games, but was listed as a starter for all those games as well which was a first for him.
It would seem like a no brainer to bring Fairley back into a defensive tackle rotation that includes 2016 first round pick Sheldon Rankins and 2016 fourth rounder David Onyemata who although faced a steep learning curve in his transition to the NFL, appears to be progressing.
But money could be be a sticking point for Fairley’s return as there are other teams that would gladly shell out the money he will most likely want in what would be considered the twilight of his career.
To put things in perspective, Fairley only trailed Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy this past season by half a sack but with more combined tackles than McCoy.
He also had very comparable seasons to others such as the Carolina Panthers Kawann Short(also a pending free agent) and the Philadelphia Eagles Fletcher Cox.
If you want to gauge the fair market value for what he could ask for, Spotrac.com has Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle tabbed for a deal that averages $11.6 million and Williams past season doesn’t even come close to being as productive.
While Williams deal is estimated for 5 years, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers deal might be more in the length the Saints would go for and, like Williams, Brockers wasn’t as productive as Fairley this past season where in 14 games he registered only 19 total tackles and zero sacks.
Brockers got a 3 year deal in 2016 from the Rams that topped out at $33.25 million, which is still in the average yearly pay out of close to $11 million.
The concern for the front office and fans alike is the question on if Fairley has overcome character/motivational issues that plagued him early in his career which could lead to the dreaded “free agent bust” label the Saints have been rightly saddled with in recent years.
Laughing All The Way To The Bank
A Snapchat video that Who Dat’s spewed fire over several years back, was one former Saints outside linebacker Junior Galette posted not long after New Orleans won their final game of the 2015 season against the Atlanta Falcons.
The then Washington Redskins defender who was out for the season due to an Achilles injury commented that it was cute the “Aints” were celebrating a 7-9 season while his team was going to the playoffs and that the Saints were still paying him guaranteed money from a 2014, 4-year/$41.5 million dollar contract prior to his release just a year later.
Galette mockingly laughed at the camera while calling for Saints general manager Mickey Loomis to “cut the check”.
It was salt in the wound not just for the small return the Saints got from that contract for Galette but a sobering reminder of the same style of contracts the team has dished out to players who underperform or don’t even get a chance to hang around long enough to prove they deserved the money monsoon Loomis rained down on them.
Granted that Galette wasn’t a free agent but you get my drift…
But other names like Jarius Byrd, Brandon Browner, C.J. Spiller, or even Coby Fleener are just a few free agency cautionary calculations when the free agent hype divided by the contract equals up to an investment that really hasn’t or didn’t pan out.
Byrd may also be another piece of dead money going into the offseason since he will be counting $11.7 million against the team’s salary cap which if he stays, can’t be allowed to hang at that number.
The Saints haven’t been shy about releasing players with these contracts so if Byrd doesn’t decide to lower his number then cutting him could still be a realistic scenario, especially if it’s done post June 1st which would save the team $8.3 million against the salary cap according to OverTheCap.com.
The Saints do have some room this year though to improve their ranks with a little over $30 million to utilize in retaining familiar faces or bringing in new ones.
An area the team may try to go after heavily first in free agency, according to WWL 870 AM’s NFL and draft analyst Mike Detillier, is a veteran corner.
In a recent appearance on Inside New Orleans Sports with Eric Asher, Detillier mentioned that head coach Sean Payton “tipped his hand” a bit when the Saints aggressively pursued cornerback Josh Norman in April after the Carolina Panthers released him and also tried to acquire Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden prior to the trade deadline last year.
Big names like A.J Bouye, Trumaine Johnson, and Logan Ryan are coming out into the open market, although with big names come big contracts.
Couple that with the fact their current team could franchise tag them or the player decides to stick with said team, will only drive the price up for other corners even for the likes of oft-injured Dallas Cowboy Morris Claiborne who has yet to play a full sixteen games after five years in the NFL.
With other needs in free agency such as pass rusher, adding a steady presence along the offensive line, or even a linebacker, the Saints literally can’t afford to have another big money contract go sour on them and return back to the purgatory of “cap hell”.
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