NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 25: Marcus Williams #43 of the New Orleans Saints in action against the Carolina Panthers during a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on October 25, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
To keep players from the free-agent market until they can reach a deal, teams franchise tag players. However, the Saints can’t even afford to do that.
The Saints’ franchise tag is a key concept in the NFL in which they can retain a player for a certain amount so that they can keep them from entering the free agency market and receiving a contract from another team before they could agree on one.