The NFL’s legal tampering window is just days away from opening, with pending free agents around the league eligible to hear offers from other teams. That includes 20-plus players from the New Orleans Saints; we took a crack at identifying possible suitors for some of their higher-profile free agents, and made an educated guess at who might stay or leave for new opportunities.
But how much might some of these free agents earn on the open market? Here is what we came up with for four different candidates, leaning on the
Teddy Bridgewater
To estimate how much Bridgewater may earn on the open market, we started with looks at what similar players have signed for in the past. Backups-turned-starters like Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett each received bumps in pay that averaged more than $27 million per year, while Super Bowl LII hero Nick Foles saw his potential salary rise to $23 million as Carson Wentz’s backup; Foles later agreed to a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars that has him on the books for $22 million per year.
So our educated guess at Bridgewater’s ceiling remains the same as what we suggested back in October. If interested teams seriously view him as a starting franchise quarterback, he should command north of $25 million per year. But don’t be surprised if the glut of highly-drafted lame ducks around the league, like Mitchell Trubisky, depress Bridgewater’s market a bit. His market could top out around $20 million annually.
Vonn Bell
Salaries are on the rise for safeties in the NFL, but so far that change has been limited to the ball-hawking free safeties who patrol the deep zones of the field — players like Eddie Jackson ($14.6 million per year), Kevin Byard ($14.1 million) and Earl Thomas ($13.75 million). Teams vote with their dollars in free agency, and on defense, sacks and interceptions are king. And few defensive backs rack up more takeaways than the free safeties who can cover from sideline to sideline.
That means box safeties like Bell are left to settle for middling payouts, with comparable players such as Chuck Clark signing extensions worth $5.1 million per year. Ironically, Bell’s former teammate Kenny Vaccaro might represent his ceiling in free agency; the Titans re-upped Vaccaro on a four-year, $24 million contract bringing in $6 million annually. Depending on how the guarantees shake out (47.9% of Vaccaro’s deal was guaranteed at signing, while Kurt Coleman, the last safety to sign a long-term deal with the Saints, received just 37.9% in guarantees), that might be manageable enough for New Orleans.
David Onyemata
As we noted earlier: sacks are worth everything in free agency, even if they aren’t the best measure of a pass rusher’s impact. Disruption is production, and the total number of pressures created should be the heavier factor in evaluations — unfortunately for Onyemata, his stats don’t make for the best impression for new teams. He’s created 30 pressures in the last two years combined (including 7.5 sacks), which is good-but-not-great for a starting defensive tackle.
It certainly doesn’t compare well against what players who earn $8 million or more per year collect; for example, Gerald McCoy has generated 46 pressures and 11 sacks over the last two seasons, on two different teams. And Matt Ioannidis has raised the bar even further with 51 combined pressures and 16 sacks since 2018. A more-realistic expectation for Onyemata might settle around $4.5 million, which is close to what Jordan Phillips and Johnathan Hankins have each landed. But all it takes is one team to bet on Onyemata as someone whose stock is trending upwards.
Andrus Peat
Peat’s free agency process will be very fascinating to watch. He’s been a Pro Bowl alternate twice at left guard, but he may have shown enough for interested teams to try and recruit him as a left tackle. If he’s strictly viewed as a left guard, Peat should entertain offers in the range of $10 million or more per year — that’s what Joel Bitonio ($10 million), Ali Marpet ($10.825 million), and Rodger Saffold have each earned. Andrew Norwell set the market with a $13.3 million annual salary, but but it’s tough to imagine Peat reaching that height.
But if tackle-needy teams think Peat is able to start at left tackle? Then the floodgates really open up. The NFL is starving for better blockers on the blind side, leading teams like the Houston Texans to make blockbuster trades in search of better protection. While Peat has not outplayed Terron Armstead as the principle backup in New Orleans, he’s probably better than a handful of starters around the league. And if Nate Solder can land a $15.5 million per-year payday from the New York Giants, there’s no telling just how much Peat might earn in a bidding war.
