METAIRIE, La. — One of the NFL’s most unique players, Taysom Hill, agreed to one of the league’s most unique contract extensions Monday with the New Orleans Saints.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Hill’s new deal will pay him $40 million over the next four years if he remains in his current role in which he serves as backup quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end, as well as being a special teams ace. However, the deal can be worth up to $95 million if Hill becomes the Saints’ starting quarterback over the next four years.
The deal includes $22.5 million in guarantees. Hill, 31, was scheduled to become a free agent after this season after he signed a two-year, $21 million extension with the Saints in 2020.
The Saints had some salary-cap incentive to get an extension done with Hill before his contract voided next spring. They would have been hit with $8.9 million in dead-money charges against the cap when his contract expired — and now they can spread those cap charges over future seasons.
But the Saints (5-5) are also showing how much they still value Hill as part of their offense going forward, even though he lost the starting quarterback battle to Jameis Winston this summer and has not yet overtaken current starter Trevor Siemian in the role.
New Orleans will be facing severe salary-cap constraints again next offseason, which will force the team to part ways with some key players for the second straight year — and could limit how much the team is able to spend on a starting quarterback. Winston is also scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent as he recovers from the torn ACL he suffered in Week 8.
Hill is now guaranteed to be part of the Saints’ future in one capacity or another. What remains to be seen is how seriously New Orleans considers him as a starting QB candidate for the rest of this season — and beyond.
Part of the reason Hill hasn’t started any games at quarterback so far this season is because he was dealing with a…
Source : espn
