The Saints did not waste time in awarding Taysom Hill a new contract as Drew Breeze made his retirement official. Hill remains a projected full-time starter for the Trees in 2021, but at the same time, he has the flexibility to compete for a job in New Orleans.
The main purpose of Hill’s four-year $ 140 million expansion was to provide much-needed salary-cap relief for this season. Hill was previously on a one-year contract for $ 16 million, with a $ 16 million guarantee and $ 8 million signing bonus.
Hill’s new deal gets him $ 12.159 million, all guaranteed for 2021, now with an additional signing bonus of $ 9.686 million. Hill’s base salary is only $ 1.034 million and the bonus is spread over five years, with approximately $ 1.9 million per season allocated from 2025 to 2022. All years of the contract are void and there will be no dead cap money cost to the Saints to exit the deal after two years.
The bottom line is that the Hills cost the Saints only $ 8.4 million against the cap in 2021, saving them about $ 7.5 million. He also does about a $ 7.7 million cap hit for 2022 only. The Saints would clean up the hat after one season with no one cutting the hill, but they would only eat that future $ 7.7 million in dead money.
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The Saints have not invested $ 35 million in a season at the Hill based on the annual average imaginable. In fact, in many ways they are investing less. Trees had been restructured before his retirement at a cost of only $ 12.225 million toward the Saints in 2021 while remaining on the roster until June 1 – after which his absence would create another $ 1 million in cap space.
Hill has promised as the regular dual-threat QB of New Orleans, showing a big hand in 2020 with his natural dynamic athleticism, following a strong stature replacing an injured tree. Hill went 3-1, throwing in just 2 INTs for 928 yards and 4 TDs, with a healthy 7.7 yards per attempt and a 98.8 passer rating. Throughout the season, he racked up 588 yards from scrambage with 98 TDs as a runner and receiver.
But as much as the Saints and Sean likes Peyton Hill in their offense, he is still a long-term wild card ahead of season 31 of his age. Well now with New Orleans on its way to being a Cap Complant, Jemis is in a better position to bring back Winston on another bargaining, incentive-filled contract. Hill’s adjusted deal shouldn’t even close the door on the Saints, with the QB hurrying past, 28 in total in the first round or 60 in the second round.
The Saints went through a much higher salary maneuver with general manager Mickey Loomis, but in the end, they are a playoff team in transition on the verge of a major rebuild. In transforming a legend such as trees, Hill has a great opportunity to open the door to true mega contact. At the same time, the Saints are not investing too much in uncertainty and leaving the door open to hurry in a different direction.
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