The Saints have made it pretty clear over the past week that retaining safety Marcus Williams was a top priority. Even with the cap situation being what it is (click here for an updated cap tracker) they were able to retain the safety on a franchise tag.
After having the best season of his 4 year career, Marcus Williams was on track to hit the market after getting an offer from the Saints prior to being franchise tagged. The Saints value Williams, so they made sure he didn’t hit free agency this offseason.
The tag will cause a $10 million to $11 million cap hit. For safteys according to Adam Schefter, a franchise tag for a safety will cost $10.5 million. This puts the Saints now at $-58.7 million over the cap (click here for full details).
This can be fixed though, if the Saints can extend Marcus Williams at some point it turns that $10.5 million and spreads it out within the years in the contract. Getting an extension done prior to the new league year (March 17th) will free up cap space. Nobody knows how much it could save, it just depends on the contract details. The tag can also come off of Williams, but a long term deal/extension would be preferred.
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Written By Kadin Janisch
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