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    Saints Offseason Improvement Plan

    Biggest Saints Offseason Needs: Making Free Agent Decisions

    The Saints are going to have plenty of decisions to make during the offseason, and some of their biggest ones start with impending free agents.

    With the NFL season officially coming to a close, we a hit reset button across the league. The 2022 season certainly has some question marks for the Saints, but it does still feel promising right now.

    We're starting a series that focuses on the top areas the Saints have to address, which are in no particular order. Today's focus is on making key player decisions around unrestricted free agents, and then seeing how this could take shape.

    Decisions on Impending Free Agents

    The Saints have some idea of what they want to do with some of their free agents after doing player evaluations, which also can include some of the existing players on their roster. Getting under the salary cap isn't as daunting of a task as last season, and the team doesn't technically have to cut anyone to make it under the $208.2 million limit.

    What's going to be interesting is what they decide to do with Terron Armstead, Marcus Williams, Kwon Alexander, Jameis Winston, Tre'Quan Smith, and P.J. Williams. Armstead is set to count negatively towards the salary cap at nearly $13 million, and he would be a very big target in free agency if he gets to the open market. Armstead could very well hang around New Orleans, but it would have to be at a reduced tag. That's hard to see when someone like the Bengals could throw a ton of money his way to help protect Joe Burrow.

    It certainly feels like Tre'Quan Smith and P.J. Williams would test the market, as Williams in particular has earned more than just a year-to-year contract after showing off his versatility. As for Smith, he's going to have some steep competition with some big names headed for free agency. His Saints career hasn't exactly been stellar, and his contract year was an underwhelming outing. Some of that could be attributed with the inconsistency at quarterback, but he was also hurt.

    Regarding the defense, you essentially have two starter situations to figure out. With Marcus Williams, you could franchise tag him and likely come in at the $13 million range. However, with Dennis Allen at the helm, there is likely going to be a big push to keep him given how valuable he is to the Saints secondary. There's time to get this done, but that window is closing quickly with a March 8 deadline.

    With Kwon Alexander, that's going to have to be an interesting choice to make. On one hand, you see how well Alexander vibes alongside Demario Davis and fits. The fact that he came back from a nasty Achilles injury so quickly was insane, but an elbow injury landed him on injured reserve and limited him to appearing in 12 games for the Saints. Still, he played well, and is likely going to have better offers on the table than just $3 million for a single season. What the Saints have to figure out is if they're going to turn things over to Pete Werner or not.

    Finally, there's Jameis Winston. Dennis Allen said that he thinks that's the most important decision the Saints make. Pete Carmichael returns as the offensive coordinator, and the question New Orleans has to answer is who is best equipped to lead the offense? 

    Winston was off to a promising start, and while the product wasn't perfect, it certainly had the makings of getting better. He was doing well, and considering that the team was without Michael Thomas, that's saying a lot. Winston also didn't have Tre'Quan Smith or Nick Vannett in those first several games either.

    Other teams are going to need a quarterback, and the rehab videos Winston keeps putting out should certainly attract those teams. With the belief of the roster the way it is, you don't turn things over to a rookie. That means some type of veteran would lead the Saints offense, and Winston has a fair shot at returning. However, the price point is what to keep an eye on. Would Winston play for another $7-10 million contract with incentives in New Orleans when he could make $15-20 million elsewhere? That remains to be seen.

    If New Orleans truly believes they are a true playoff contender, then you know they'll do their due diligence in finding out who leads the charge for them at offense. Money doesn't stop the Saints in pursuing talent, and a quarterback alone won't fix all the issues they do have. It'll be interesting to see how Mickey Loomis and Dennis Allen tackle their in-house approach, which should give us a little more clarity on how they approach free agency.

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