The New Orleans Saints are nearing the offseason once again, and as the time passes by, we have some time to consider the previous year of signings and departures. While the 2024 offseason was not particularly one filled with an exorbitant amount of moves for the Saints, there were definitely some notable ones that made things interesting.
One of the more intriguing departures from the Saints was cornerback Isaac Yiadom, who after a career year ended up leaving them in pursuit of a new free-agent deal, and found one with the San Francisco 49ers. Here’s how things have gone for him both before and after the deal:
Free agent contract
Yiadom despite heading out for what many assumed would be a decent sized contract, was only able to haul in a one-year deal worth up to $1.9 million. He was guaranteed $1.375 million at signing, and received a per-game active bonus of $400,000 for being active all 17 games. Ultimately, he will now hit the free agent market once again in 2025 as his contract expires.
Snap counts
The snap counts for Yiadom throughout his career have been somewhat consistent, as he has stuck in a similar range each season aside from his rookie year. Here are his defensive snap counts for each season, only including games he played in:
- 2018: 30% (263)
- 2019: 48% (503)
- 2020: 58% (633)
- 2021: 9% (95)
- 2022: Texans – 1% (2), Saints – 0% (0)
- 2023: 47% (515)
- 2024: 46% (486)
2022 was definitely a down year for him on the defensive aspect, however he played a ton on special teams for both the Houston Texans and Saints (was waived in November by Houston and signed by New Orleans two days later). He played 81% of the Texans’ special teams snaps in games he played in, and 83% of special teams snaps for the Saints after he was signed in that season.
2024 season review
2024 was a split result for Yiadom when it comes to production, it was not as good as his 2023 season overall, but it may be the second best season of his career. He ended the year with 46 tackles (36 solo, 8 assisted), 6 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and two recoveries, and an interception.
Additionally, in coverage he was targeted 41 times, allowing 24 completions (58.5%) for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns, good for a 88.7 passer rating when targeted.
Report card grade
Grading the Saints for allowing Yiadom to walk is a difficult thing to do, on one hand the team has multiple young defensive backs coming up through their system, but on the other hand they could have used a quality veteran presence after trading away Marshon Lattimore. Yiadom had a solid, but not great season, and at the price he was signed for, it is hard to validate the Saints not bringing him back.
Saints Grade for allowing departure: C-