One of the more interesting facets of NFL free agency is the players who carry restricted status — typically those who entered the league as undrafted free agents with three years’ experience. Their restricted status gives teams like the New Orleans Saints multiple options at retaining their services in 2023, either on fully-guaranteed tenders, re-signing them to minimum salaries, or hammering out new contract extensions altogether.
And the Saints have seven restricted free agents to deal with. They’ve got to make decisions on them beginning on March 15, at the start of the new league fiscal year, and they have until April 21 to either sign them to a long-term deal or sign that contract tender on the dotted line. Let’s run through the list and how much it could cost the Saints in each scenario:
