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Saints: Jameis Winston Passing, Jameson Williams, Contracts to 'Reduce, Restructure, or Release'

The New Orleans Saints front office must scoff at the over-the-cap reports and their pending doom in free agency.

Kyle T. Mosley

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The New Orleans Saints front office must scoff at the various "over-the-cap reports" and their pending "doom" in free agency. Pat Kirwin has an offseason philosophy as an old NFL executive: Reduce, Restructure, Release. Mickey Loomis and Khai Harley are the masters at manipulating players' contracts — targeting inflated contracts of key contributors. Those players, almost always, would agree to reduce or restructure their contracts rather than to sign elsewhere. 

Jameis, Saints Contracts, and More

REDUCE, RESTRUCTURE, OR RELEASE

Andrus Peat and Terron Armstead
Oct 30, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints offensive linemen Andrus Peat (75) and Terron Armstead (72) block Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark (55) in the second half at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints won, 25-20. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Ramcyzk's, Andrus Peat's, and Michael Thomas' restructured deals helped alleviate close to $34M from the $76M+ of salary cap surplus for New Orleans. Expect more wheeling and dealing in the Big Easy before March 16 opens the free agency market. Spreading the money into the future could signify that New Orleans will make a play for a quarterback, like Jameis Winston, or another significant player.

In the next couple of weeks, more reports from Metairie could include additional restructured contracts, as well as significant releases.

Watch for more announcements from the team on these players who take up a majority of the cap space: Marshon Lattimore, Cam Jordan, Demario Davis, David Onyemata, Malcolm Jenkins, Courtney Roby, Marcus Davenport, and Alvin Kamara.

JAMESON WILLIAMS TO THE SAINTS?

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jameson Williams (1)
Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver Jameson Williams (1) is brought down by a slew of Georgia Bulldogs defenders Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Credit: © RobertScheer / USA TODAY NETWORK

WWL's Mike Detillier asked me an interesting question on the air last night. Would you take Jameson Williams if he remained on the draft board at No. 18? I was hesitant at first and answered, "offensive lineman" The Saints need offensive line help, but Williams is an intriguing figure. Returning from an ACL injury is not as complex as in years past. After Jameis Winston went down on Halloween vs. the Bucs, he is slowly returning to form after four months. Yesterday, his camp posted a video showing the quarterback running on a treadmill.

The Crimson Tide's Williams checks all of the boxes for the Saints. He's lightning-fast and led the SEC with 1,572 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns before blowing out his knee against Georgia in the title game.

He would be an excellent asset for any quarterback in the Black and Gold - especially if its Jameis Winston.

JAMEIS WINSTON IS RUNNING AND PASSING

Jameis Winston Passing
Credit: Jameis Winston

Jim Trotter of the NFL Network reported that the Saints and Winston's representatives will enter discussions on a possible return.

Winston makes sense for the Saints. His familiarity with Pete Carmichael, the offensive system and personnel, and wouldn't command a huge contract, has Jameis in a prime position.

Last season, he was 5-2 as a starter when his season ended from a torn ACL against Tampa Bay on Oct. 31.  He completed 95/161 passes for 1,170 yards, 14 passing touchdowns, three interceptions, and a 102.8 quarterback rating.

"The Saints are one of several teams who are looking to figure out their quarterback situation for 2022, and Winston is a pretty strong option to re-sign. While that may or may not happen, we did take a look at what getting him back would do for the team. Perhaps New Orleans makes a run at Winston before March 16, but if they can't make it work, expect plenty of teams to be interested."  John Hendrix

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Follow Kyle T. Mosley on Twitter and Instagram at @ktmoze.

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Kyle T. Mosley
KYLE T. MOSLEY