NFL teams
Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Saints re-sign Luke McCown

NFL, New Orleans Saints

METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints made their first free-agent signing of 2015, re-signing veteran backup quarterback Luke McCown to a one-year deal. McCown's agent, Mike McCartney, announced the deal on Twitter.

McCown's base salary is $970,000 (the minimum for an 11-year veteran). He also received an $80,000 signing bonus, and $350,000 of the deal is fully guaranteed, according to a league source. The deal will count only $665,000 against the Saints' salary cap, however, since it qualifies as a minimum salary benefit contract.

McCown, 33, was the Saints' backup behind Drew Brees for the past two years, but he attempted only one pass in that span -- during an ill-fated fake field-goal attempt in 2013.

He'll have to beat out third-year pro Ryan Griffin to keep the backup job again this year after those two had a hotly contested battle for the job last preseason. The Saints have been high on Griffin's potential since they signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Tulane in 2012, and they added him to the active roster late last season to lock him up for 2015.

But so far, the Saints have trusted McCown, a veteran journeyman who has spent more than a decade in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons and Saints.

McCown has made nine career starts with a total of 2,035 career passing yards, nine touchdown passes and 14 interceptions.

It's also possible the Saints could consider drafting a quarterback higher than Round 7 for the first time in the Brees-Sean Payton era, now that Brees is 36 years old and coming off of a down year by his lofty standards. But it still doesn't seem to be an urgent need. Brees tied for the NFL lead with 4,952 passing yards in 2014 and talked last summer about wanting to play another 10 years.

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