Well, that’s slightly disappointing. Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Bears, as announced by his agent Mike McCartney, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport clarified that the deal carries a base value of $4 million with another $1 million available in incentives.
That means the low $2 million per-year average is unlikely to return a compensatory draft pick to the Saints in 2023, or work into the formula and free up a higher-valued selection for another player. It was always a long shot, but there was hope (however faint) that Siemian could factor into the comp pick formula and negate the addition of Marcus Maye, which would free up the projected fourth round comp pick New Orleans would have received for losing Marcus Williams. That’s not happening, so we’ll have to see if someone like Kwon Alexander or P.J. Williams can earn a nice payday and do that instead.
But good for Siemian. He’s getting some nice money in exchange for offering Justin Fields some pointers on the Bears sideline, with his average annual salary matching what other veteran backups around the league are earning — guys like Brian Hoyer and Blaine Gabbert. Good for him after stepping in to bail the Saints out of some tough spots against Tom Brady and Matt Ryan last season, even if Siemian was winless through four starts.
If you’re curious: the Saints will visit Chicago for a road game next in 2023, which would be the final year of Siemian’s contract, if he’s still around. So maybe don’t expect a revenge game against New Orleans’ former backup.
