BRING HIM BACK : Saints 28-Year-Old Playmaker Projected To Land $30 Million Deal in a Comeback uncertainty

Will the New Orleans Saints bring back one of their most important pass-catchers from the 2024 National Football League season?

New Orleans got a career year out of tight end Juwan Johnson and now he’s heading to free agency. Johnson had a career-high 50 receptions and 548 receiving yards in 17 games. Johnson also had three touchdowns.

Johnson has been a big piece of the Saints’ offense over the last five years, but it’s too early to know if he will be back. Free agency will be here next month and Johnson is going to be one of the better tight ends on the open market. He had a two-year, $12 million deal with New Orleans but surely will get more now.

Spotrac currently is projecting Johnson to land a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency. That seems like a pretty fair price for Johnson. In comparison, David Njoku of the Cleveland Browns landed a four-year, $54 million deal.

The Saints unfortunately may not be able to bring Johnson to town. New Orleans has plenty of cap issues and it will be tough to afford to keep Johnson. They surely could find a way to get a deal done if they can clear up cap space elsewhere, but it may be tough. He has been a great member of the organization but at this point it wouldn’t be a big shock to see him playing elsewhere by the time the 2025 season gets here.

Jets Predicted to Sign Lions 6-Foot-5 15-TD Pass Catcher

Detroit Lions wide receiver Tim Patrick reacting in the middle of an NFL game.

The New York Jets need some help at wide receiver this offseason.

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic projected that the Jets would sign Detroit Lions wide receiver Tim Patrick in free agency to help fill the void.

“Patrick has ties to both [Aaron] Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand from a 2024 season spent with the Lions, and to [Darren] Mougey from six years spent with the [Denver] Broncos. He fought back from various significant injuries last year to contribute for an elite Lions offense: 33 catches, 394 yards, three touchdowns. He’d be more of a depth piece but, he’s 6-foot-4, 212 pounds and should be inexpensive,” Rosenblatt explained.

According to Spotrac’s calculated market value, Patrick is projected to sign a one-year deal for $1.7 million in free agency. That annual salary would rank No. 67 among the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL, per Spotrac.

Patrick is listed at 6-foot-5 and tips the scales at 210 pounds, according to the Lions’ official roster sheet.

Patrick Would Much Needed Depth to the Jets WR Room

The Jets wide receiver room will look a lot different in 2025 than in 2024.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini said in a column on Sunday, February 16 that Tim Patrick from the Lions is “a name to watch” this offseason considering all of his connections to the Jets staff.

Patrick, 31, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He bounced around a few training camps during his first couple of months in the league. Eventually, he landed on the Broncos roster.

Patrick spent seven seasons with the Broncos. During that run, Patrick appeared in 55 games and made 37 starts. He racked up 143 receptions for 2,009 receiving yards and scored 12 touchdowns.

However, the final two years that he was on the Broncos roster he didn’t play in a game due to back-to-back devastating season-ending injuries.

The former Grossmont and Utah product blew out his ACL in 2022 and tore his Achilles in 2023.

In 2024 he joined the Lions and proved he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Patrick appeared in 16 games and made nine starts for Detroit. He caught 33 passes for 394 receiving yards and scored three touchdowns.

Patrick would provide a big body for the Jets receiver room at a bargain bin price tag.

Jets Shouldn’t Stop Adding Lions Players With Patrick

Rosenblatt predicted that the Jets would raid the Lions’ coffers this offseason.

In addition to a Patrick signing, Rosenblatt also projected that the Jets would steal away veteran defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike and linebacker Derrick Barnes in free agency.

“Glenn is trying to install his culture, and the best way for any coach to go about doing that is to bring in players who understand his approach, his style, and what he is looking for.

It helps that the best player in this trio, Onwuzurike, would fill a need too. He dealt with injuries early in his career but played in 16 games last season, his first full season with a significant role since the Lions drafted him in the second round in 2021. He’s still only 26 with room to improve, and he shouldn’t come at a significant cost — PFF is only projecting a two-year, $16.5 million deal. The previous regime failed to put decent defensive tackles next to Quinnen Williams in 2024, and Onwuzurike would be a major upgrade. He was 16th among defensive tackles in pressures last season (45) and seventh in hits (13). The Jets would still need to add a run-stopping defensive tackle,” Rosenblatt said.

Barnes, 25, entered the NFL as the No. 113 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft. During his career to date, Barnes has appeared in 51 games and has made 26 starts.

Barnes has collected 205 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, and four sacks. Although the highlight of his career came in the divisional round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 21, 2024. Barnes intercepted Bucs’ quarterback Baker Mayfield in the final two minutes of the game to seal the victory and send Detroit to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1991.

“THE WORST THING: Reporter Believes Saints would set up this QB Cam Ward to fail if he joins the New Orleans Saints

Cam Ward has better chance of being the first overall pick than falling to the New Orleans Saints at ninth overall. If that did happen, Bleacher Report’s scouting department sees that as the worst case scenario for Ward.

They see “the worst thing for a quarterback of Ward’s ilk is to find himself on a squad without quality surrounding talent.” The scouting department clearly thinks that description best fits New Orleans.

Most quarterbacks drafted in the top-10 will step into unfavorable situations. The Saints would surround Ward with a couple of weapons in Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Alvin Kamara. Taliese Fuaga and Erik McCoy are strong building blocks, but New Orleans could use more consistency along the offensive line.

If this selection somehow was made without a large trade up, New Orleans is in prime position to get Ward more weapons or protection with a top-50 pick in the second round. Is there room to improve? Definitely. They could also use another weapon or two, but to say they don’t have quality talent in relation to other teams in the top-10 feels like a misread.

CONFIRMED: Saints Agrees To Acquire $37 Million Bengals Standout To Shore Up Secondary

The New Orleans are in a familiar, yet uncomfortable place heading into 2025 free agency.

Thanks to years of ignoring the realities of their salary cap situation, the Saints have put themselves between a rock and a hard place. They have tons of contract restructuring to do just to have a few pennies to spend on free agents.

After a 5-12 season, the Saints clearly aren’t one big signing away from suddenly making it back to the playoffs. But if enough players show improvement, fixing a few key roster holes, like the cornerback position, could help the Saints make a jump in the standings.

On Wednesday, Pro Football Network predicted one free agent signing for every team this offseason, and the site’s pick for the Saints was veteran cornerback Mike Hilton, who is coming off a decent season in the Cincinnati Bengals secondary.

“The New Orleans Saints are in a brutal position this offseason,” the article read. “They need to improve in a number of areas but will be right up against the cap in terms of how they can do it. Therefore, they will likely have to target the second tier of free agents and the older veterans.”

“Mike Hilton is an intriguing option for them at cornerback as they look to address a 19th-ranked defense from last year. He might be looking for more than they can afford, but if they can get him in the $5-10 million range in terms of AAV, they will have done well.”

Hilton, 30, has spent the last four years in Cincinnati after beginning his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His best statistical season was 2023, when he allowed a measly 66.5 passer rating when targeted, and though he took a slight step back in 2024, he’s a fairly reliable veteran in a thin free agent class.

Spotrac projects Hilton for a three-year, $37 million contract, which might be tough for New Orleans to fit under budget. But if they identify Hilton early on as someone they want, they may be able to set his market and save a few bucks.

Saints Target New York Jets star as an opportunity to upgrade their wide receiver room in 2025 a Kellen Moore Boost Squad

Among the brutal lessons the New Orleans Saints learned in 2024, one was that they need a deeper wide receiver room. Entering last season, fans and analysts repeatedly expressed how the Saints needed to add to the group of wideouts, but New Orleans was content rolling into the year with Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed as the only two playmakers.

Both guys delivered, starting the season with impressive games. However, by mid season, both guys were sidelined for the year, and the Saints were left depending on mid-year signee Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Moving forward, New Orleans can’t put itself in a position like that again. The team, in general, needs better wide receiver depth, and they especially need that depth in case of injuries.

Fortunately, this offseason will likely have a ton of wide receiver movement. In addition to all of the talented pass catchers entering the league through the draft, several established star receivers will either be free agents or available for trade. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently highlighted 17 of those receivers, and there are a few guys New Orleans should definitely have their eyes on.

Star receivers the Saints may be able to acquire this offseason

Barnwell’s list included traded candidates like Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill and San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, cut candidates like New York Jets’ Davante Adams, and free agents like Keenan Allen and Marquise Brown. Of course, New Orleans isn’t going to be in the mix for all of these guys. Between the team’s cap situation, and New Orleans not seeming like a competitive team, some of these guys won’t even be an option for the Saints.

However, there are a few that New Orleans could make a run at, and possibly land— similar to how the team did with Chase Young last offseason. One name that makes the most sense is Davante Adams. Of course, he’s only a sensible option if the team brings back Derek Carr.

When Adams forced his way out of Las Vegas last season, it was clear he wanted to reunite with one of his former quarterbacks. That ultimately happened to be Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets. Things didn’t work out well in New York, though, and both guys could soon be looking for new teams.

If Adams is back on the market, he could run things back with Carr again, and immediately elevate the Saints offense. The trio of Adams, Olave, and Shaheed, with Alvin Kamara in the backfield, would certainly move the needle, and give first-year head coach Kellen Moore a lot to work with.