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The New Orleans Saints will have to send out their one-year qualifying offers to their four restricted free agents in the next week or so -- center Brian de la Puente, tailback Chris Ivory, defensive end Junior Galette and long snapper Justin Drescher. The amount they offer each player could vary.The way restricted free agency works, teams can choose to tender their players at varying levels, based on the size of the salary.

The lowest level is $1.323 million. But since all four players were originally undrafted, that level would come with no draft-pick compensation attached if the players are signed by another team. ... The Saints would still have the right to match any offer the players might sign with another team.

The next highest level is $2.023 million, which would require a second-round draft pick as compensation from another team (and would virtually guarantee that no other teams would sign away the Saints' restricted free agents). A first-round tender would cost $2.879 million.

The choice isn't easy with the Saints in such a tight salary-cap situation. They won't pay Drescher $2 million, but they might have to go that high for the other three guys.

Would you offer $2 million each to de la Puente, Ivory and Galette? And if you do keep Ivory at $2 million, would you consider releasing or trading fellow tailback Pierre Thomas, who is scheduled to make $2.5 million in salary and bonuses this year?

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TheOak

Keep de la Puenta and Gallet

UK_WhoDat

center Brian de la Puente and defensive end Junior Galette - yep.

Rugby Saint II

I like drescher but not for that cost. dlp is the only one worth of a 2nd rounder in my opinion.