The New Orleans Saints find themselves involved in a quarterback search.
This is new territory for a team that relied on future Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees for 15 years.
Brees announced his retirement yesterday; actually, his children did for him.
Drew Brees has officially retired from the NFL @brgridiron
His kids helped him with his announcement ❤️ pic.twitter.com/p2uVvrqOPV
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 14, 2021
With Drew Brees riding off into the sunset, that opens the door for Taysom Hill and Jameis Winston, the Saints’ backup quarterbacks in 2020.
Winston is a free agent so it is unclear if he will be back with the Saints.
Taysom Hill is under contract for the 2021 season.
Taysom Hill’s Contract
It is probably no coincidence that Taysom Hill’s contract has been restructured in the past week, but the restructuring really didn’t alleviate the confusion or change the dollars significantly.
Saints are restructuring Taysom Hill’s contract to a four-year, $140M extension, per @AdamSchefter
All years are voidable and it’s a way to free up $7.5M against the cap @brgridiron pic.twitter.com/XK7LAYmt2L
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 14, 2021
Because all of the years are voidable, per Spotrac, essentially Taysom Hill signed a 1 year $16.15 million contract for 2021.
This was a numbers exercise to make more salary cap space.
Hill’s previous contract netted him a similar payout of about $16 million per year.
Though it is easy to get absorbed in the 4 year $140 million details, they really are meaningless.
What Are The Saints Getting In Taysom Hill?
Hill has been their wildcat scheme quarterback and their trick play go-to guy.
His stats are not indicative of a backup quarterback’s.
In 2020, he had 8 rushing touchdowns, 4 passing touchdowns, and 1 receiving touchdown.
Hill saw more action in 2020 because of Drew Brees’ rib injury.
He threw for 928 yards and had 2 interceptions.
His win-loss record was 3-1.
Though he is versatile and racked up touchdowns last year, it is easy to make the argument based on snap counts that Hill is overpaid.
These quarterbacks had more passing TD than Taysom Hill (4) last season:
Joe Flacco
C.J. Beathard
Dwayne Haskins
Brandon Allen
Jalen Hurts
Mike Glennon pic.twitter.com/l3Q5nHgWRv— NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) March 14, 2021
Consider that he played on 473 offensive snap counts which was just 44% of the Saints’ regular season offensive snap counts.
Is Taysom Hill the Saints starting quarterback?
Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston!?! @Saints pic.twitter.com/dvKXNXM6so
— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) March 15, 2021
If the answer to this question is yes, he may not be considered overpaid at $16 million.
However, if he is the backup quarterback to Jameis Winston or whomever else the Saints sign, then he is overpaid.
As a means of comparison, we can look at Andy Dalton‘s 2020 contract.
Dalton’s role was defined as the backup quarterback to Dak Prescott for the Dallas Cowboys.
Andy Dalton has been in the league for 10 years and is 33 years old so he is an experienced veteran.
His 2020 contract payout was $3 million.
To throw in another comparison, Jameis Winston, 27, was paid $1 million by the Saints last year in a backup role.
In comparison, Hill was an UDFA in 2017, is 30 years old, and has not logged the playing time or snaps Andy Dalton has.
As a backup quarterback or even as a trick player, he is overpaid at $16 million.
Saints Quarterback Picture Is Confusing
Because Drew Brees just publicized his retirement, we don’t really know what the Saints are planning.
The team clearly believes in Taysom Hill, and he will have an active role with the team at least in 2021.
After that, it is difficult to know given the strange contract he signed that is voidable each year.
As we progress toward free agent signings (March 17) and the NFL Draft (April 29-May 1), the quarterback picture for the New Orleans Saints will become clearer, and we can revisit this discussion.
NEXT: Should Jameis Winston Start For The Saints In 2021?