The New Orleans Saints have had a fairly solid offseason despite getting rid of some players and after adding Jairus Byrd, the team could be close to getting Jimmy Graham under contract and they also could look to the free agent market for names like Andre Brown, Willis McGahee and Maurice Jones-Drew to make up for the Darren Sproles trade.
The Saints surprised many by getting rid of Sproles, as he has been one of the most productive players for the team over the past few years, but they had to get rid of some money to get the cap under control for Graham. The deal for the tight end is going to cost the team and on top of that they have Drew Brees's contract to deal with as well and that made for some hard decisions and now Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram will be the feature backs. The team could sign one of the free agent backs mentioned to help add depth to the roster and those players like would not cost much, including Brown, who was injured last season for the Giants but came on strong in the end.
The biggest priority now for the Saints is signing Graham, who could have been the biggest name on the free agent market if the team allowed him to get there. The team franchised Graham and now the two sides are working on a deal and one of the biggest sticking points will be whether he wants to get paid like the top tight end or as a top receiver and that could hold things up for a bit. Graham has been one of the most productive players in all of football the past few seasons and according to ESPN.com, the contract for him could be coming by the beginning of April. Rob Gronkowski makes $9 million per year and it's likely that Graham will want to get paid more than that and that would put him in line with some of the top wideouts in the league.
Sean Payton spoke at the owners meetings about making tough choices and he added that signing Byrd was part of the plan and that is why they had to move on from some players that were very productive for the team over the years. Graham is coming off of a fantastic season with 1215 yards and 86 catches along with 16 touchdowns and that means he should be in line for a massive pay day no matter what happens with his contract. The Saints have been active this offseason and after signing Byrd to a six-year, $54 million contract, the team feels that the secondary will be one of the best in the NFC and that will be needed against division rivals like the Falcons and Panthers, as they have great QBs in Matt Ryan and Cam Newton.
The team kept tackle Zach Strief on a deal over five years and worth $20.5 million and they also signed back Thomas to a two year extension and that could help keep the running game productive with Sproles leaving. Thomas is a good back out of the backfield and Jones-Drew could be a solid option as well and he likely will not cost too much because of his age and how long he has been on the market now. Teams like the NY Jets and Steelers have shown interest, but so far no deals have gone down.
