Chase Young must change this trend to justify his big Saints contract
Chase Young just got a new contract worth $17 million per year, and there are some who are questioning the annual average. They say contracts are about what you're going to do. Well if Young is going to live up to his contract, he'll have to deliver more sacks.
In his debut season with the New Orleans Saints, Young had 73 pressures, per Next Gen Stats. That ranked sixth in the NFL and is a leading reason the edge rusher received his contract. However, he only finished with 5.5 sacks. That's what makes fans do a double take at the deal.
Pressures are vital and do impact the game. They can disrupt the timing of the quarterback and lead to incomplete passes, or even turnovers in some cases. This isn't to diminish them, but eventually they do need to result in sacks.
Is $17 million high for the edge rusher position? No, but it should command better production in order to justify giving Young the contract. When you look at players making that amount, most of them are players who have hit double-digit sacks. Young has yet to do that in his career, and last year he didn't get close. He's never had more than 7.5 sacks in a single season.
The deal offered by the Saints should suggests they believe Young can bring down the quarterback 10 or more times each year. To achieve this in 2025, Young will need to bring pressure quicker and turn more pressures into sacks. Of the players in the top-10 of pressures, Young had one of the slower time to pressure and amount of quick pressures.
Being able to rush the passer faster should naturally increase his sacks. Young didn't have an issue bringing down the quarterback when he got there, but there was an issue of not getting there in enough time. Maybe a healthy offseason and some training with his old college coach can make a difference.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Chase Young must change this trend to justify his big Saints contract
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