The New Orleans Saints have spent big on the tight-end position so far this offseason. But they might not have enough left over to keep restricted free agent Josh Hill from bolting to the Chicago Bears.
Hill signed a three-year offer sheet with Chicago on Monday that ESPN NFL Insider Adam Caplan reported is worth a maximum of $7.5 million with $3.25 million guaranteed. The Saints have five days to match the offer or they will lose Hill with no compensation in return.
Hill is already counting $1.67 million against the Saints’ salary cap because of the qualifying offer they made to him two weeks ago. So it’s possible they could afford to match the Bears’ offer, depending on how it’s structured and how big his 2016 salary-cap figure is.
But it’s also possible the Saints will decide to let Hill walk since they have virtually zero salary-cap space remaining.
The Saints were down to $1.3 million in cap space at the start of this week -- and that’s before their deal with linebacker James Laurinaitis has been processed. Coach Sean Payton also said Monday that the team has agreed to a deal with linebacker Craig Robertson, though a source said that contract was not yet finalized as of Tuesday evening.
The Saints have valued Hill for his versatility as a pass-catcher, blocker and core special-teams player since they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Idaho State in 2013. (Bears general manager Ryan Pace was their player personnel director at the time).
But the Saints are already spending a lot of money on the tight-end position after signing Coby Fleener to a five-year, $36 million deal and re-signing backup Michael Hoomanawanui to a three-year, $5.1 million deal.
Suddenly, keeping Hill feels more like a luxury than it did when the Saints made their qualifying offer to him.
I said the same thing about Fleener -- on a larger scale. But Payton insisted that the Saints had a “crystal clear” vision for the 27-year-old when they signed him away from the Indianapolis Colts.
“I’m gonna say in the last two years, I’ve seen every one of his routes, every attempt, every ball dropped, deflected,” Payton told WWL Radio. “I think he’s got outstanding speed. So the one thing that jumps off the film at you is his ability to really run. He’s a guy who’s smart. He’s someone who’s played in a system very similar to ours in college [at Stanford] and to some degree in Indianapolis.
“[Stanford coach] David Shaw is a close friend of mine, and I’ve spent a lot of time with him on the phone. But watching his skill set, I think for us as coaches it’s exciting, because I see a number of ways he can help in the passing game.”
Payton acknowledged that blocking isn’t Fleener’s greatest strength -- which Fleener also acknowledged after he signed. But Payton said the Saints have ways to use tight ends in the run game, such as releasing them into the secondary to block.
“He’s not gonna be the first guy you put in at the point of attack on a power play, but that’s OK” Payton said. “So let’s make sure we understand the things that he does real well.”
