Ian Rapoport: Saints to make a decision on Taysom Hill; hard to imagine Hill returning [T.Hill is turning 35 w/ 18M cap hit & ACL recovery]

DavidM said

Johnson is our most productive pass-catching TE, though Moreau stepped up his game this past season.

I'd be fine with the market determining if Johnson is back. I think he's shown enough to be in the mix of competition, but not enough to be a player the team has to prioritize if the salary doesn't make sense on their end. A late round pick isn't likely replacing his production anytime soon, so the team would either need to target TE earlier or look for an upgrade in free agency.

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Plus we stop some dead money from hitting the cap this year if Johnson gets a new contract. I'm fine either way, but I do think he's a solid pass catching TE when healthy so there is no reason to run him off if a reasonably cheap deal can be reached. And for all we know Moore may want to convert him back to WR.

If we do sign him, if we find an upgrade in the draft great, but if not, Johnson would keep our floor for a pass catching TE relatively high for hopefully a relatively cheap number.

Some of this will have to do with what they do with Carr. If they let him go, they will probably need to do deals with guys like Johnson, and give extensions to guys like Olave, Shaheed, and Taylor to get under the cap.