JACKSON: Why Juwan Johnson’s contract met market value

By Ross Jackson

The re-signing of tight end Juwan Johnson has been one of the more scrutinized offseason moves made by the New Orleans Saints. Tight end contracts are no longer cheap deals around the league, but many believe that a slightly above $10 million per year deal for Johnson was overspending.

However, the numbers around the league say otherwise.

For the record, it’s my firm belief that the re-signing of the 28-year-old tight end is about much more than just market value and previous production. Both offenses in the last three seasons didn’t emphasize tight ends in the passing game early and often relied on the position to contribute to pass protection due to early-season injuries along the offensive line.

Late-season surges at the position as those injuries spread to wide receivers have highlighted the playmaking potential of the group, albeit too late in some cases.

It is also important to consider the upcoming change in the offensive attack. It’s unlikely that production and stats were the lone factors in new Saints head coach Kellen Moore choosing to retain Johnson on a three-year deal. Instead, Moore would make that decision based on what he feels he can do with the converted wide receiver in his offense.

But beyond its potential, a closer look at the market highlights the logic behind the deal that was ultimately made.

Juwan Johnson’s $10.25 million APY contract places him among a competitive tier of NFL tight ends, including:

• Hunter Henry (Patriots) – $9M APY
• Dawson Knox (Bills) – $9.833M APY
• Noah Fant (Seahawks) – $10.5M APY
• Evan Engram (Broncos) – $11.5M APY
• Dalton Schultz (Texans) – $12M APY

Johnson is coming off of a career-best season of 50 receptions and 548 receiving yards while adding a trio of touchdown catches. His high in touchdown receptions came in 2021 with seven.

If we take a 17-game average across Johnson’s three-year career as a tight end (not including his two seasons as a wide receiver), his ranking among the aforementioned tight ends ranks him appropriately with his contract value with one glaring exception.

There are two massive takeaways here:

1. Johnson has similar production at tight end as the highest-paid player on this list in Schultz over a per 17-game average. This makes Johnson’s $10.5 million deal a discounted value based on what the Texans are getting from their investment.
2. Henry is severely underpaid. But I’ll let a Patriots site write about that someday.

The bottom line is that if Moore believes he can get more (no pun intended) out of Johnson, he should outpace his contract. The first step towards that will be getting him more involved and producing earlier in a season, rather than when other options are off the table. 

While it isn’t an unreasonable investment, it is still a sizable one. Beyond Johnson being judged by the deal he was offered, the Saints themselves must endeavor to make the deal worth its value in production received in return. That will end up being the story of this signing. 

Johnson was clear in his recent media availability that he sees a big step forward awaiting him. Whether or not the role will be there to support that is an effort of many to reconcile the investment in one.

Juwan Johnson on his upcoming breakout potential:

“At the end of the day, like there’s going to be a time where it’s going to click and it’s gonna get scary.”

— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) March 17, 2025

Check out more of our Saints coverage.