Kaden Elliss contract: Saints LB has $3M extra motivation to release QB

Over the years, the New Orleans Saints have had quite a few players come back and leave to pursue other opportunities and then come back to play for them, either just before retiring or still in their prime. 2026 will be a similar scenario, as the Saints brought back linebacker Kaden Elliss after his time with the Atlanta Falcons, signing him to a new three-year contract worth $33 million.

However, one of the most fascinating parts of this contract comes down to the incentives, as Elliss has a regular-season sack incentive in each year of this deal, which increases from five to 12, giving him more and more money to work with. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell shared the details:

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• $250,000: 5 or more bags

• $350,000: 6 or more bags

• $450,000: 8 or more captures

• $500,000: 9 or more captures

• $600,000: 11 or more captures

• $750,000: 12 or more bags

Having nearly $3 million on the line each season is huge, especially for a player who has been continually improving in the pass rush department. Giving him some opportunities to earn money for doing so will likely have him working toward that total of seven in 2022, or potentially more.

The last two seasons, he’s had 30 and 43 total pressures, so if he can start converting some of them into sacks, like Chase Young did in 2025, he should be able to hit a pretty high mark for the year.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: NFL free agency: Saints gave their hand to Kaden Elliss contract