BREAKING: Saints Beat Eagles, Titans In $31 Million Sweepstakes as deal is Agreed-Report

The New Orleans Saints have made a handful of reported moves already.

The National Football League’s legal tampering period opened up on Monday and the new league year is set to begin on Wednesday. New Orleans has been busy and has done a good job retaining some of its pending free agent talent, including Chase Young and Juwan Johnson.

New Orleans hasn’t just targeted its own pending free agents. One solid move the Saints made was reportedly signing former Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans safety Justin Reid to a three-year, $31.5 million deal, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Reid spent the last three seasons with the Chiefs and won two Super Bowl titles. Now, he will reportedly join New Orleans and the Saints aren’t the only team that wanted him. New Orleans reportedly got into a bidding war with the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans and came out on top, according to Underdog/Bleacher Report’s James Palmer.

“Reid had several teams that were very interested.” Palmer said. “Most notably it went down to the wire with the Titans, Eagles, and Saints with New Orleans winning out per source.”

New Orleans seems to pretty set at safety now. Reid reportedly is coming to town and and the franchise also is keeping Tyrann Mathieu in the organization as well. It’s been a busy few days and the Saints certainly seem to be in a better place than they were in when free agency opened up.

NEW DEAL: Saints Rewarding Fan-Favorite With $30 Million 3-year-deal following

The New Orleans Saints have had a surprising few days.

On the outside looking in, it seemed like the Saints were nearing some sort of roster overhaul thanks to the team’s cap situation. The Saints had the lowest amount of cap space in football until just recently. There was a time in which New Orleans was had over -$51 million in cap space but has done a great job restructuring deals in order to keep some key pieces in the organization.

The Saints reportedly re-signed one of their top free agents on Monday by giving Chase Young a three-year deal. New Orleans reportedly is doing the same on Tuesday by re-signing tight end Juwan Johnson on a three-year deal worth over $30 million, according to FOX Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz.

“Breaking: The Saints are re-signing free agent TE Juwan Johnson to a 3-year deal worth over $30M, per sources,” Schultz said. “One of the top TEs available, Johnson comes off a career-best 50/548/3 season in New Orleans.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport followed up the report and shared that it’s for three years and $30.75 million with a chance to reach as high as $34.5 million.

Johnson has spent his entire five-year career in New Orleans to this point and now reportedly is tied to the organization for another three years. The 28-year-old certainly earned this reported deal after having a career-year in 2024.

Johnson appeared in all 17 games for the Saints and had career-highs in catches (50), receiving yards (548), and yards per game at 32.2. He also had three touchdowns on the season for the Saints.

To this point, the Saints reportedly have re-signed Johnson and Young and also have re-worked Tyrann Mathieu’s deal to keep him in town as well.

BREAKING: New Orleans Saints make another free agency splash by reuniting Tyrann Mathieu with his former partner after……

The New Orleans Saints continue to stay busy in free agency – to the surprise of some folks. They’ve made their first notable addition outside of their own roster from last season.

Saints agree to deal with safety Justin Reid

According to Adam Schefter the Saints are signing safety Justin Reid to a three-year deal. The contract is worth $31.5 million, including $22.25M guaranteed for Reid.

The Kansas City to New Orleans pipeline continues with S Justin Reid following the likes of Tyrann Mathieu, Tanoh Kpassagnon, Willie Gay Jr., and Khalen Saunders. This time around, the Saints are getting a player who is much closer to Tyrann Mathieu than anyone else mentioned.

He’s a veteran leader who doesn’t always have the penchant for making splashy plays, but he’s never going to be the guy to make the wrong one. He’s a tremendous open-field tackler and a tone-setter in the secondary, who will also offer some hidden value on special teams. He can become a placekicker in a pinch, and he’s one of the league’s best on the kick/PAT block units.

— Charles Goldman

Love Goldman’s recognition of a clear funnel from KC to New Orleans. The Saints have clearly valued how the Chiefs have built their roster in recent years and tried to accumulate some of their veteran talent once they exit Andy Reid’s squad.

Reid reunites with Honey Badger

Plus, Reid will rejoin Tyrann Mathieu in New Orleans. The latter reworked a new deal to remain with the Saints for the 2025 season. Mathieu and Reid played together for the Houston Texans in 2018.

During that season in Houston, Reid totaled 88 tackles, ten pass deflections, and three interceptions. It was a great rookie campaign for the former Texan and Chiefs.

As for Mathieu, he spent only that season with the Texans. During that campaign alongside Reid, Mathieu totaled 89 tackles, three sacks, and eight pass deflections.

They were a dynamic duo on the back end and formed a friendship. Not to mention, both are Louisiana natives. It is only right that they return to New Orleans as a combo in the secondary for the Saints defense.

NEW DEAL AGREED: Tyrann Mathieu goes out of his way to help the Saints and guarantee that he stays in New Orleans for 2025 season

The New Orleans Saints continue to wave their salary cap wand. Their latest move took a lot from one of their most beloved players, though. New Orleans could  not have done it without his cooperation to help out the team.

Tyrann Mathieu works out new deal with Saints

According to Nick Underhill, the Honey Badger agreed to a reworked contract with the Saints. He will remain in New Orleans for the 2025 season.

It’s a one-year deal worth up to $7.2 million with incentives. — Nick Underhill

This deal for Mathieu is not a restructure. It is a new deal – which helps the salary cap situation immediately for the Saints.

Mathieu has been a fan favorite for his entire tenure in New Orleans, plenty due to his superstar time spent at LSU.

Clearly, the veteran defensive back loves the city and their fans as well. He’s been willing to work with the organization for multiple years now to ensure they have as much salary cap flexibility as possible, when it comes other his deal being involved.

As for the Saints, keeping Mathieu had become a notable task in recent weeks. There were rumors that New Orleans may move on from him earlier in the offseason, but Mathieu quickly disposed of those via social media. That post has since been delated, though.

This notion from the former Pro Bowl safety doubles down on his hopes relayed earlier in the offseason. Mathieu said that that he wanted to play at least two more years in New Orleans, hoping to win another Super Bowl for the city.

Safety Will Harris departed the Saints on Tuesday to sign with the Washington Commanders. That move creates a depth issue alongside Mathieu in the safety room in New Orleans.

I would not be surprised to see the Saints add another veteran at the position in free agency in the coming days.

Regardless, the Honey Badger seems determined to finish his career in black and gold. That’s good news for both sides.

SAD BUT TRUE: New Orleans Saints miss out on golden opportunity to bring back underrated free agent after recent NFC news

The New Orleans Saints lost a notable piece to their secondary on Monday, when Paulson Adebo agreed to terms with the New York Giants. Now, another NFC East team is on the right track to take another defender from New Orleans’ 2024 depth chart.

Saints lose Will Harris to Commanders

The Commanders have agreed to terms with safety Will Harris on a two-year, $8 million with a max value of $10 million, according to Mike Garafolo.

This is a painful loss for the Saints due to need. The safety position was incredibly inconsistent last season for New Orleans, and Harris was arguably their top safety when healthy in 2024.

Harris played with a ton of grit and energy. Many fans will remember his hit on CeeDee Lamb from early last season against the Dallas Cowboys.

The veteran defensive back only spent one season with New Orleans, but huis impact was clear.

At such a low price point, it is probably a bit frustrating for the Saints to see Harris head elsewhere. It should be – at least. It’s unclear if the Saints had an interest in brining him back or not, though. Brandon Staley’s defense will look notably different in scheme than in years past with Dennis Allen and co.

On the other hand, the Commanders are fresh off an NFC Championship appearance. As he nears thirty years old, Harris may have wanted a better chance at a deep playoff run than he may have gotten in black and gold.

No matter what – the safety position becomes arguably the biggest need on defense for the Saints now. Tyrann Mathieu remains in the fold, but the depth behind him lacks upside and experience right now for New Orleans.