The Saints have taken care of an important piece of business just before the beginning of the season. New Orleans has reached agreement with center Erik McCoy on a five-year extension worth up to $63.75M, via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Garafolo adds that the deal — which was confirmed by McCoy’s agents — also includes more than $40M in guaranteed money. The 2019 second-rounder had one season remaining on his rookie contract, so this new deal will keep him in New Orleans through 2028. His level of play since his arrival in the league made an extension such as this one a distinct possibility.
McCoy, 25, has been a full-time starter since his rookie season, when he earned a PFF grade of 78. He played a full schedule once again the following season, but his rating fell to 69.4 that year. In 2021, the Texas A&M product took another step back in PFF’s eyes, ranking 23rd in the league among centers. McCoy also missed the first action of his career, being sidelined for five games due to a calf strain.
As Garafolo notes, this new deal will make McCoy the highest-earning center who has yet to be named a Pro Bowler. Overall, the $12.75M yearly average of the contract will rank him fourth in the league among centers in terms of compensation, only slightly behind Jason Kelce, Frank Ragnow and Ryan Jensen.
McCoy has been able to maintain his spot in the middle of the Saints’ O-line despite the team drafting Cesar Ruiz in the first round of the 2020 draft. New Orleans’ investment in him points to McCoy remaining at the pivot, as the team begins life without Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead. Even without the latter, the Saints should still have a strong unit up front on the right side in particular with McCoy, Ruiz and Ryan Ramczyk.
It remains to be seen if this new deal will affect McCoy’s 2022 cap hit, which currently sits at $3.4M. The Saints made a slew of moves this spring to reach cap compliance, but they entered Thursday with less than $3M to work with. Over the life of the contract, though, McCoy could prove to be worth the commitment as the Saints look to keep as many of their top young players on the books for the long term as possible.
More must-reads: