What we know is that receiver Willie Snead will be a member of the New Orleans Saints in 2017.

What we don't know is how much the Saints will be paying Snead.

The Saints plan to submit a tender to retain Snead, an exclusive rights free agent, by the deadline Thursday, meaning that he won't be able to negotiate with any other team.

Actually, because Snead has only two seasons in the league, the Saints only have to offer him the one-year minimum salary of $615,000.

Expect the Saints to offer much more however, as Snead has mean a lot to the offense in his two seasons in New Orleans, making the decision by the team to tender him a contract a no-brainer.

The 24-year old Snead has accumulated 141 catches for 1,879 yards and 7 touchdowns over the past two seasons, including a solid 2016 campaign, in which he caught a career-high 72 passes for 895 yards, to go along with a career-high 4 touchdowns.

After playing his college football at Ball St., where he caught 223 passes for 2,991 yards and 26 touchdowns, Snead went undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft, before signing with the Cleveland Browns as a free agent.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Snead made the final round of cuts with the Browns, before being released, and then later signed to the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers, prior to joining the Saints' practice squad in December of 2014.

Snead is one of the Saints' two exclusive rights free agents this year, along with fellow wide receiver Brandon Coleman. Teams must submit a tender for their exclusive rights free agents prior to the start of the new league year, which begins Thursday at 3 p.m.

More From Classic Rock 105.1