As Saints restructures accumulate (headlined by Derek Carr‘s), the team carved out enough cap room to retain Chase Young. The moves have also elevated New Orleans to a place where keeping Juwan Johnson was feasible.
The Saints are re-signing Johnson on a three-year deal, according to his agency. Johnson checked in on PFR’s Top 50 Free Agents list, as this year — before Evan Engram‘s release — brought a thin tight end contingent. But Johnson was one of the headliners. He is staying in New Orleans on a third contract.
Johnson will score a nice raise on this deal. The veteran pass catcher will be tied to $30.75MM, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Of that toal, $21.25MM will come guaranteed. Going into his age-29 season, Johnson is coming off his second 500-plus-yard performance. Even though the Saints are changing schemes by transitioning to the Kellen Moore era, Carr will still have Johnson to target moving forward.
The five-year Saint had played out a two-year, $12MM contract. It is worth wondering if Sean Payton‘s Saints West headquarters helped move the price to where it was, as the Broncos are in need of a tight end — even as they roster ex-Saints Adam Trautman and Lucas Krull — as well. Denver hosted Engram on Monday but has not signed him. Regardless of which team drove up Johnson’s price, a former UDFA will benefit and now be tied to an eight-figure AAV.
Over the past three years, Johnson has produced two 500-plus-yard seasons and totaled 14 touchdowns. That included career-high catch (50) and yardage (548) totals in 2024. The converted wideout has shown consistent ability to break away after the catch, with 38.7% of his yardage coming post-reception in 2024. He has averaged at least 11 yards per reception three times as a Saint, with Johnson being one of the team’s few post-Payton success stories. The converted wideout’s best work has come since Payton resigned his post in 2022.
Published before Engram’s release, PFR’s free agent list tabbed Johnson as most likely to become this year’s highest-paid UFA tight end. Although the Bengals gave Mike Gesicki a three-year, $25.5MM deal to stay, that assessment has thus far proven accurate. Johnson rejoins a Saints team still rostering Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau. While Hill has generated more interest, Johnson is now in the clear position as the team’s top receiving tight end.