Another player has gone one-and-done with the New Orleans Saints after signing with the team last year in free agency — ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that linebacker Willie Gay Jr. is moving on to sign a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. It’s likely a minimum salary contract but if Gay gets a similar payday to what the Saints gave him a year ago (in the $3.5 million range) he could factor into the 2026 compensatory draft picks formula.
Gay, 27, started eight of the 15 games he appeared in for New Orleans while dealing with a couple of different injuries. While he only logged 28 tackles (19 solo) he did make some splash plays with two sacks, two forced fumbles, two tackles for loss and three pass deflections. Gay was signed to compete with Pete Werner during training camp and line up alongside him and Demario Davis when the Saints ran their 4-3 base defense.
But they rarely did so, instead primarily working out of nickel and dime personnel. That became even truer when the Saints’ pass defense fell apart and head coach Dennis Allen leaned harder on his defensive backs to try and compensate, and the plan for getting Gay onto the field went away. Werner signed a long-term contract extension during camp and Gay ended up spending more time on the sidelines than was expected. The 277 defensive snaps he played in New Orleans were the second-lowest of his career, and only 10 more than his rookie-year total with the Kansas City Chiefs (267). Clearly he felt Miami presents a better opportunity. Now the Saints need to replace him.
