The last time we saw Taysom Hill in action, he was the Saints’ most versatile player in their wild-card playoff loss to the Vikings. He completed a 50-yard pass and rushed four times for 50 yards. He caught a 20-yard touchdown pass. He also played 27 snaps on special teams, making one tackle in kick coverage.
With Drew Brees' announcement this week of his 2020 return, it appears Hill is likely to play the same multi-faceted role in New Orleans for at least one more season — except as the No. 2 quarterback with a big raise in pay.
Unlike Teddy Bridgewater, who will be an unrestricted free agent in March, Hill will be tendered as a restricted free agent by the Saints with three seasons completed. With New Orleans tight against the salary cap (an estimated $9.3 million in cap room for 2020), Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has an interesting decision to make.
MORE: Where will Bridgewater sign in free agency?
Loomis could decide to put a first-round tender on Hill, which would basically take him off the market. It's unlikely another team would give up its No. 1 pick if it put forth an offer sheet and Saints didn’t match. That first-round tender is projected to cost $4.667 million for one year.
Or Loomis could try to save some cap space by placing a second-round tender on Hill at a projected $3.278 million, which would still be quite a raise from Hill's $645,000 base salary in 2019. The lower tender could trigger an offer from another team, which New Orleans could match and keep Hill or let him leave for the second-round pick.
Loomis likely has Sean Payton lobbying hard to keep Hill. The Saints coach loves how Hill’s strength, speed and athleticism allow for so much creativity on offense, not to mention Hill's contributions on special teams.
If Bridgewater is a hot commodity on the free-agent market as expected after winning all five games he started last season when Brees was out with a broken thumb, I think Loomis and Payton ultimately will decide it’s not worth losing Hill over the $1.389 million tender difference (less than 1 percent of the overall $200 million cap). That’s how I would handle Hill’s contract situation for 2020 only and then see how things play out with Brees.
The amount of the first-round tender is not out of line for the quality No. 2 QB Hill appears to be, and it is reasonable pay for someone who just played 41 percent of the offensive snaps in a playoff game, producing 125 yards of total offense in that game. Plus, the Saints paid Bridgewater $7.25 million (plus incentives) last year as the No. 2 QB, so they can save more than $2.5 million with Hill in that role under the first-round tender and have the benefit of the many ways Hill helps the team. It also makes sense for Loomis to structure Brees' new deal with a large signing bonus spread over several years in order to lower his cap number, thus creating room for Hill at the higher tender and for other signings.
MORE: Ranking the top 50 free agents in 2020
As a GM, I always put a lot of stock in our No. 2 QB and never was afraid to pay him top dollar for the role after seeing how important he is in the event of an injury to the starter. Whether it was Randall Cunningham stepping in when Brad Johnson was hurt and leading our 1998 Vikings to a 15-1 record (and winning league MVP honors in the process); or our Titans Super Bowl team in 1999, when Neil O’Donnell replaced an injured Steve McNair and won four of the five games he started. And Hill does so much more for the Saints than any No. 2 QB ever did for my teams when the starter was healthy.
Loomis might be tempted to use the second-round tender as bait to get an offer due to the fact that the Saints traded away their No. 2 pick in April’s draft in a move-up deal to grab starting center Eric McCoy last year. GMs and scouts don’t like to enter a draft without their full arsenal of picks, but I see Loomis trying other avenues to get into the second round, such as dropping down from their No. 24 spot in the first.
Hill seems to be taking it all in stride knowing he probably will sign the one-year tender in New Orleans and patiently await his unrestricted free agent status in 2021. Then, if the 41-year-old Brees stays on again, Hill will have to look for an opportunity to start elsewhere in order to maximize his salary as an unrestricted free agent.
"I'm so excited for Drew to come back," Hill told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. "He's a friend, a great mentor to me. We'll go through the restricted free agency process and see what happens but I would love to play with Drew again.
"As far as being a franchise QB, I’ve played quarterback my entire life. All you can really hope for when you get in the NFL is that you have an opportunity to compete and be the guy for a franchise. That’s never changed for me. I still have that same vision and same goal. With coach Payton and his creativity the first few years of my career, it’s gone a different path but the vision for myself has never changed."
MORE FROM DIAMOND:
What Tom Brady and the Patriots are thinking
Hill came to the NFL after an injury-filled college QB career at BYU. As a senior, he had good rushing numbers (603 yards and 8 TDs) but lackluster passing stats (2,323 yards, 59.7 percent completion rate, 12 TDs, 11 interceptions) for the 9-4 Cougars. There was no great buzz about him entering the league in 2017, but he has become one of those stories everyone loves of an undrafted player who has made it big.
Loomis and Payton had the insight to claim Hill off waivers when he was cut by the Packers. He played in seven games as a rookie special-teamer before Payton coached him up to become a multi-purpose phenom. It began with Hill as a wildcat QB, and in 2019 he emerged as a receiving threat with 21 catches for 259 yards and 7 touchdowns on top of his 206 rushing yards (including postseason).
The big question that lies ahead is whether the Saints or another NFL team views Hill, 29, as a future starting QB. I think we’re a year away from finding out, and I expect Payton to give him more snaps at QB to test opposing defenses and keep Brees fresh throughout the season. And Hill will continue to be a running and receiving threat while perhaps having fewer special teams duties to be sure he stays healthy as the No. 2 QB.
Meanwhile, Saints fans should be able to enjoy watching the many ways Hill contributes to their winning team for at least one more season.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on negotiation and sports business/sports management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
