Marcus Williams, Saints pass deadline without extension; what comes next

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Deadlines spur action, but even these stakes weren’t enough for Marcus Williams and the New Orleans Saints to shake hands on a new contract. The cutoff date for franchise tagged players to sign an extension before the 2021 season was at 3 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 15, and it ultimately didn’t happen.

So now Williams is on track to be a free agent in 2022. It means that he will have the highest salary cap hit of all Saints players while playing on the $10.612 million franchise tag. His agent can’t negotiate with New Orleans on a new deal until after the 2021 season wraps up. This wasn’t the ideal outcome. Williams has the threat of a career-threatening injury hanging over him, while the Saints don’t have as much financial stability to address other needs.

Both sides tried to reach an agreement, but ultimately fell short. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on the Pac McAfee Show hours before the deadline that, “I know they have negotiated heavily, I have not gotten the sense they are close on anything.” That lines up with a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that put Williams and the Saints among a group of franchise tag situations with little prospects of reaching a new deal.

So what comes next?

If Williams turns in another productive season, he’ll be lined up for the franchise tag again in 2022 or a big pay day — or maybe both, as was the case for Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons. Simmons received the tag for a second time this year (valued at $13.729 million, a 20% increase over 2020’s amount), but it bought enough time for Denver to hammer out a record-setting four-year extension paying out $15.25 million per year.

That might be the path forwards for Williams and the Saints. A similar price increase for his second franchise tag would come up to roughly $12.734 million next year, but as with Simmons and the Broncos that’s money New Orleans could shuffle around upon reaching a new deal. Ideally, though, it won’t come to that.

Of course, we’ve already missed out on an ideal outcome. Now we’re exploring the consequences of that swing-and-a-miss. The Saints are already navigating a complicated salary cap situation and this doesn’t alleviate that pressure. Here’s hoping cap guru Khai Harley can keep the ship steady until the cap goes to the moon in 2023.

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