'Commitment To The Bit': Saints Earn Curious Award For Free Agency Moves

Did New Orleans approach free agency the right way?

Feb 13, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis pose with the new head coach Kellen Moore at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The cap-strapped New Orleans Saints weren't supposed to do anything during NFL free agency.

And, well, they sort of stuck to the plan, allowing two top defenders to sign with other teams and restructuring contracts to clear cap space. However, the Saints also traded for ex-New England Patriots nose tackle Davon Godchaux, re-signed Juwan Johnson and Chase Young, and added safety Justin Reid -- among other moves.

It was an unexpected approach for a rebuilding franchise, and it earned the Saints the "Commitment to the Bit Award" in a piece published Wednesday by ESPN's Ben Solak.

Here's Solak's full blurb on the Saints:

"This will be the year the Saints don't spend any money," they told me! "This is finally the year the Saints will take their lumps."

But general manager Mickey Loomis never says die. The Saints signed a couple of internal extensions -- edge rusher Chase Young and tight end Juwan Johnson -- in an understandable and shrewd effort to keep void-year money stuck in future years. Were Young or Johnson to leave in free agency, the void money on those contracts would accelerate onto the 2025 cap. With deals in place, the void money instead stays in future years, and they retain good young players. That's fine business.

But then the Saints signed free agent safety Justin Reid to a three-year, $37.5 million deal. That is decisively not stopping the spending and taking your salary cap medicine. It is spending 2025, 2026 and 2027 money -- money the Saints do not have -- in an effort to field a more competitive roster in the short term. We don't have full details on the structure of Reid's deal yet, but it will almost certainly be backloaded into 2027 and even borrow from 2028 and beyond. Why do this, when contention is surely not in the immediate future? Why do this, when cap health is circling the drain? I simply cannot tell you.

Never learn your lessons, kids. There's always money in the banana stand. (Great article for "Arrested Development" references.)

Time will tell whether the Saints did the right things this week. But, at this point, it's fair to wonder whether Mickey Loomis and company have a coherent plan.

Reminder: New Orleans owns the No. 9 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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