Defensive end Chase Young will be joining the third franchise of his career ahead of the 2024 NFL season, with NFL insider Josina Anderson reporting Monday that Young is expected to sign a one-year, $13 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.
Young famously began his career with the Washington Commanders, the second overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. Coming out of Ohio State, Young was hyped beyond belief, and compared to star pass rushers like Joey Bosa and Nick Bosa.
While he came out of the gates swinging, amassing 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles in his rookie season, injuries and other factors prohibited him from reaching those highs again. He’s shown flashes, but the Commanders decided to move on from him during last season’s trade deadline.
He was reunited with his former teammate in Nick Bosa in San Francisco, and almost played a part in delivering the 49ers a Super Bowl. Moving forward, he’ll be 25-years-old at the beginning of next season, not even hitting his prime yet if he can get back to his pre-injury self.
Time will tell, but the potential has been evident in Chase Young from an early age. We’ll see if he can put it all together consistently moving forward with a new start in New Orleans at his disposal.
More on the 2024 NFL offseason, free agency
The NFL 2024 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. At that time, contracts running through 2023 officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 5. Beginning March 11 through March 13 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.
In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 19 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 24, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits. Following the restricted free agent deadline follows the 2024 NFL Draft, which runs from April 25-27.
More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents
Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.
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