8:35pm: Per PFF’s Brad Spielberger, Granderson will receive an $11MM signing bonus, and his 2023 and ’24 compensation is guaranteed at signing. His salary in 2025 ($7.73MM) will become guaranteed on the third day of the 2024 league year, and the same holds true the following year for $5.44MM of his 2026 compensation.
Annual sack incentives are also present in the deal, beginning at $500K for 12 sacks up maxing out at $2MM for 15. The Saints will save $200K in 2023 cap space with this extension, and Granderson’s cap hits after this year will range between $9.93MM and $14.95MM. With his new pact in place, he is now the highest-paid former UDFA (in terms of guaranteed money) amongst defensive linemen.
1:27pm: In a year in which they have ensured Cameron Jordan will remain in place for the foreseeable future, the Saints have done the same with fellow edge rusher Carl Granderson. The latter agreed to terms on a four-year extension Saturday, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. 
ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds that Granderson will receive $52MM on this new deal. $35.3MM is guaranteed, making this quite the pay raise for the former undrafted free agent. Granderson was playing on the final year of his current contract, so he will now be on the books through the 2027 campaign, with this new pact taking the place of a void year in 2024.
The 26-year-old played sparingly during his first two Saints campaigns, but he has seen an uptick in playing time with each passing season. Granderson recorded five sacks in 2020, then set a new career high last year with 5.5. He also notched a new personal benchmark in tackles (53) and PFF grade (80.4) in 2022. That made his second New Orleans pact – a two-year, $5.63MM extension signed last March – seem like a bargain.
With Marcus Davenport having departed in free agency, a starting defensive end spot opposite Jordan was available this summer. Rather than former first-rounder Payton Turner, it was Granderson who got the nod for a first-team role on a full-time basis for the first time in his career. The latter has not disappointed to date, having racked up 2.5 sacks and seven QB pressures over the first two weeks of the season. He is currently PFF’s seventh-highest graded edge rusher in 2023.
Jordan and the Saints made it very clear during the offseason that they would work out a deal putting any speculation about his future to rest. They ultimately did just that in August, agreeing on a fully-guaranteed pact worth $27.5MM which will take him through 2025. The Jordan-Granderson pairing is now in place for the foreseeable future given today’s news.
With Turner currently sidelined with a turf toe injury, New Orleans has had to lean heavily on Jordan and Granderson as every-down rushers. They have shouldered the load effectively to date, with the Saints’ defense having led the team to a 2-0 start. With a $13MM-per-year deal now in place, Granderson (who has earned just over $3.2MM in the NFL to date) can carry on his encouraging start to the campaign with his long-term future having been taken care of in emphatic fashion.
