2020 New Orleans Saints: Five Things to Know

The NFL's 100th season is in the books, and we now turn our attention to what to look for when it comes to the Saints and 2020.

John Hendrix | Feb 3, 2020

The NFL season is now over, as the Kansas City Chiefs earned their first Super Bowl victory in the league's 100th season, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20. Andy Reid finally gets his ring, and likely stamps his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of it. We can look forward to seeing what the XFL brings with the void left behind from not having the New Orleans Saints. However, we have plenty to look forward to and discuss before we get to the new league season in March.

Drew Brees watch is in full effect.

We'll know what Brees wants to do as early as mid-February, but the decision could drag out until the later part of the month. According to what FOX's Jay Glazer said recently, the decision is all on Brees. The team believes they have the future in Taysom Hill, and ultimately Sean Payton has made it clear that Brees is their guy, assuming he wants to come back. It's the Saints or nobody.

Here's some important dates you need to remember. This is what the month of February looks like, with the waiver system starting today.

February 3: Waiver system begins for 2020.
February 11: Beginning at 12 p.m. ET, NFL clubs may begin to sign players whose 2019 CFL contracts have expired. Players under contract to a CFL club for the 2020 season or who have an option for the 2020 season are not eligible to be signed.
February 24-March 2: NFL Scouting Combine, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
February 25: First day for clubs to designate Franchise or Transition Players.

There are roughly 27 Saints heading to free agency.

The team should be able to make easy work on their three exclusive rights free agents (J.T. Gray, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Keith Kirkwood). Not all six of their restricted free agents will likely return, but the main emphasis will be on Taysom Hill. The Saints have 18 unrestricted free agents, with some big decisions needing to be made soon before key players like Vonn Bell, Eli Apple, David Onyemata, A.J. Klein, and Andrus Peat test the market. We previously made a case for some of them in our burning offseason questions series.

There are currently the Top 10 biggest salary cap hits facing the 2020 Saints. Expect Mickey Loomis and company to shift around some funds through restructures to make space for free agency. Here's the top offenders.

Drew Brees - $21.3 million
Terron Armstead - $15.9 million
Michael Thomas - $15 million
Larry Warford - $12.875 million
Janoris Jenkins - $11.25 million

The Saints hold the 24th overall pick in the NFL Draft. This is what their picks look like for 2020.

Round 1: New Orleans
Round 2: None
Round 3: New Orleans
Round 4: New Orleans
Round 5: New Orleans
Round 6: New Orleans
Round 7: None

More for the Saints News Network

Published Feb 3, 2020

JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net