The New Orleans Saints made their biggest splash of free agency when they brought back edge rusher Chase Young on a three-year deal.
Though the details of the contract haven’t been revealed yet, the 25-year-old pass-rusher landed a deal worth up to $51 million. With Payton Turner landing elsewhere in free agency, the Saints made sure to lock up the former No. 2 overall pick.
While Young certainly showed some promise during his second season with the Saints, Daniel Mader of Sporting News took exception to the fact that the team was willing to pay him so much in free agency despite run-of-the-mill production.
“Chase Young now has the 20th-highest overall contract for an NFL edge rusher and the 19th-highest AAV, per Spotrac. Those are wildly high numbers for a player that has known talent, but he also has yet to register more than 5.5 sacks in a season since his 2020 rookie campaign,” Mader wrote. “Young’s numbers through six NFL seasons aren’t good enough to justify his Saints extension. If he continues moving in the right direction though, New Orleans may get some value out of it.”
Mader did mention that the 66 total pressures Young generated were the seventh-most of all edge rushers in 2024, per Pro Football Focus.
Under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Saints will rely heavily on the pass rush. They added Justin Reid to the safety room on a three-year deal but with Cameron Jordan taking a reduced role entering his 15th season, the Saints will need Young to live up to this contract.
The structure of the deal could shift opinions depending on the cap hits, but this contract is certainly a projection of what Young could be rather than paying for the production he’s already given.
