The New Orleans Saints have been proactive in free agency, securing most of their own free agents while bringing in some new faces. They also acted quickly to replace the contributors who left for other opportunities. Here’s how we graded the biggest moves of the signing period, so far:
Adding Latavius Murray from the Minnesota Vikings
Grade: B
The Saints could not have done a better job replacing Mark Ingram in free agency (short of re-signing him, but let’s stay focused). Like Ingram, Murray is a very physical runner who can help out on passing downs. He’s also bigger, stronger, and faster than Ingram, showing the open-field speed to break away from pursuing defenders. Murray is a more patient runner than Ingram (averaging 2.82 seconds behind the line of scrimmage; Ingram averaged 2.58 seconds) but they are largely cut from the same cloth. The Vikings trusted him often in pass protection but Murray still managed to catch 37 passes over his two-year Vikings career. Since taking his first NFL reps in 2014, Murray has caught 133 of 170 career targets (78 percent), including the postseason.
Losing Mark Ingram to the Baltimore Ravens
Grade: D
It’s bad enough knowing Ingram leaves the Saints after coming so close to breaking the team’s all-time rushing yards record. What really stands out is that Ingram ended up signing a deal worth just $500,000 more per year than what the Saints offered. Sure, there were other factors in play like guaranteed money and the offers Ingram was hearing from other teams. And once it was clear he wouldn’t get the salary he wanted, the Saints had already moved onto Plan B in signing Murray. It’s hard to neg New Orleans too badly for how they handled this (Ingram’s agents badly misplayed their hand in drawing out negotiations), but everyone involved could have benefited from a little more patience.
Re-signing Teddy Bridgewater for another year
Grade: A
The contract the Saints handed out to Bridgewater ($7.25 million guaranteed, up to $12.5 million through incentives) compares well to what a quarterback selected with a top-five draft pick will earn. The Saints get another year to internally evaluate Bridgewater, and he gets a year to prepare for the next free agency cycle. Next year’s quarterback market should offer more opportunities to Bridgewater, but if the curtains close for Drew Brees, the Saints should be able to secure his future in New Orleans. For now, they have the best quarterback situation in the league.
Adding Malcom Brown from the New England Patriots
Grade: B
The first three years of Brown’s career were stellar. His final season with the Patriots wasn’t, at least until the playoffs. Then he looked like his old self, disrupting offensive lines and making plays in the backfield. The Saints are betting on that being the true version of Malcom Brown, looking for the consistency he showed for most of his career. And there’s a good chance that’s what they’ll get. The money (three years, $15 million) is typical for what nose tackles get in free agency these days, so the only reservation I hold on this signing is the lull in Brown’s performance during the 2018 season. What exactly happened there?
Losing Alex Okafor to the Kansas City Chiefs
Grade: C
There’s no way the Saints were going to make a competitive offer against Okafor’s three-year, $18 million contract with the Chiefs. With incentives, that total value can climb to $24 million. Parting ways with him makes sense in light of that. What doesn’t check out is the Saints agreeing to the player option in Okafor’s contract in the first place, losing a talented piece of their pass rush rotation when they didn’t have to. From Okafor’s perspective, that checked out and he cashed in. Maybe that option was the allowance the Saints had to make last year so that Okafor would agree to re-sign. We wish Okafor well in Kansas City, but this kind of looks like an own goal for the Saints.
Re-signing Wil Lutz for five years
Grade: A+
This should go down as the smartest move the Saints made in free agency. They could have opted to keep Lutz on a low-cost, one-year tender, given his status as a restricted free agent. Instead, they chose to reward him with a long term extension — signalling to their own free agents and those around the league that New Orleans will take of its own. This contract makes Lutz one of the five highest-paid kickers in annual salary, and he’s arguably outplayed that to take the top spot as the best in the game. He nailed 28 of his 30 field goal attempts in the 2018 season.
Adding Mario Edwards from the New York Giants
Grade: B
This was another wise investment by the Saints. Edwards agreed to a two-year, $5 million contract with the Saints and should immediately produce along the defensive line. He won’t be commanding double teams, and it’s foolish of any fans to think that was the Saints’ goal in free agency. Instead, Edwards can help fill in for Sheldon Rankins and line up all over the place as the Saints aim to get him in mismatches with slower, stiffer blockers who can’t compete with his athleticism. This is the same kind of low-cost signing that turned into big dividends for the Saints when they first picked up Okafor, and before him, Nick Fairley (his botched second Saints contract due to health issues aside).
