Taysom Hill signs $140M deal as Saints make more cap space following Brees' retirement

The New Orleans Saints have a quarterback problem to deal with after long-time starter Drew Brees announced his retirement. The NFL legend had been the franchise cornerstone for 15 seasons, and the 2009 Super Bowl champions will now be looking to fill the void left by the 41-year-old. One of the early decisions taken by the franchise saw Taysom Hill sign a new $140 million deal. 

Taysom Hill contract details: Taysom Hill extension confirmed after Drew Brees' retirement 

The New Orleans Saints acted quickly after Drews Brees' retirement and pegged the Taysom Hill extension in a $140 million deal. Many franchises, especially the Saints have largely used voidable contracts in a bid to generate space on the salary cap, which dipped massively this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Hill was set to have the biggest cap hit on the New Orleans roster at $16.1 million but the extension buys them $7.5m more in cap space as per the Taysom Hill contract details. New Orleans have made similar moves with several contracts this year to get under the salary cap since they started the offseason nearly $100 million over the cap.

The Saints converted the Taysom Hill salary of $10.7 million into a signing bonus, and further added four voidable years to his deal, which was set to expire in 2021. As per Spotrac's Michael Ginnitti, Hill and the Saints agreed to a one-year, $12.159 million restructured contract. The new deal sees his cap hit reduced to $8.4 million, giving the Saints nearly $7.5 million in cap space. Hill has been with the Saints since 2017, after going undrafted as a rookie. The 30-year-old logged four starts for the Saints in 2020, posting a 3–1 record. He threw for 928 yards and four touchdowns completing 71.95 of his passes, adding an additional eight scores on the ground. 

The Saints' are also expected to work on Jameis Winston's renewal, while rumours of their pursuit of Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson or the Houston Texans' Deshaun Watson were quickly quashed away. According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Winston could receive a similar deal to the one-year, $14 million deal that Cam Newton recently signed with the New England Patriots. The 27-year-old is currently a free agent, though Saints head coach Sean Payton noted his desire to bring back Winston last week. While Winston is error-prone, he did put impressive numbers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, before joining the Saints last season, where he only threw 11 times, completing seven passes.

(Image Courtesy: nfl.com)