New Orleans Saints’ history with the franchise tag
The franchise tag has been a useful tool for teams to keep their best players in town since its inception back in the 1993 collective bargaining agreement, but the New Orleans Saints have used it sparingly — issuing the tag to just five players since 2004, though it was most recently deployed in 2021. These fully-guaranteed, one-year contracts often buy time for a long-term extension to manifest but the added pressure can damage relationships between players and management.
And the results have been hit-or-miss for New Orleans. Often players who were tagged wound up signing a multiyear deal with the Saints. Sometimes, though, it led to frayed relationships and a swift exodus. Let’s recap each situation now that the NFL’s franchise tag window has opened, even if the Saints lack candidates for it in 2023:
2004: DE Darren Howard
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Howard played on the tag during the 2004 season, receiving $6,503,000.
2005: DE Darren Howard
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Howard played on the tag again in 2005 for $7,804,000. He left in free agency the following offseason, having earned a six-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.
2007: DE Charles Grant
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Grant initially signed the franchise tag in 2007, valued at $8,664,000; but it bought the team enough time to reach an agreement on a seven-year deal valued at $52,750,000. However, he was released in 2010 after an injury.
2012: QB Drew Brees
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Negotiations got contentious between Brees and the Saints in 2012, and he initially agreed to play on the $16,371,000 franchise tag before later agreeing to a five-year, $100 million extension. He signed more extensions later in his career.
2014: TE Jimmy Graham
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In hindsight, the Saints tagging Graham ended their relationship with one of their best players. The issue of the tag’s valuation went to arbitration, where it was determined he was a tight end, not a wide receiver, and thus owed only $7,035,000. He later agreed to a four-year, $40 million extension but was traded just in the second year of that deal as things continued to sour.
S Marcus Williams
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Williams played on the $10,612,000 tag in 2021 but he and the Saints weren’t able to agree on a long-term deal. He signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent in 2022.
