Saints’ NFL-worst salary cap situation isn’t as bad as it looks
It’s another year with Mickey Loomis running the New Orleans Saints, which means it’s another offseason with 31 teams having more salary cap space to work with — on paper. The experts at Over The Cap estimate that the Saints are in the red by $83.6 million, assuming the cap rises to $242 million. That’s based off the $20 million leap it made last year.
And yeah, that’s a challenging situation to work with. But it’s not as daunting as some of the hurdles we’ve seen the Saints overcome before. There just aren’t many outgoing free agents that New Orleans will have to bid against other teams for; left tackle Andrus Peat, wide receiver Michael Thomas and quarterback Jameis Winston are the highest priorities to re-sign and none of them are ranked as top-100 free agents at Pro Football Focus.
So how will the Saints chip away at that $83.6 million and get under the cap? Expect them to start with their usual strategies of restructuring high base salaries into signing bonuses for key players like linebacker Demario Davis (saving about $8.1 million), defensive end Carl Granderson (yielding $7.2 million) and safety Tyrann Mathieu ($5.8 million in savings). The big domino is quarterback Derek Carr. His contract is set up for a restructure that would save more than $23 million against the cap, but it would basically guarantee a third year with him under center. If the Saints are confident he can carry his strong finish to the 2023 season over into 2024, they shouldn’t hesitate to pull that lever.
Those four moves get the Saints halfway to the finish line by themselves. There are other restructures in the cards but tougher negotiations on pay cuts with underperforming veterans have to be considered, too; it’s tough to justify high salaries for players who have missed a lot of time with injuries or suspensions, or who just haven’t met expectations. Hopefully things can work out differently so guys can help the team without losing money.
Our point here is that the Saints can reach cap compliance and then make room without losing many key free agents or cutting foundational players. They won’t have to kick off a fire sale (or, more accurately, they can’t, because of unique contract structures) to go the distance. They’ll get under the cap and add players in free agency.
The concern is whether all that hard work is worth it for a Dennis Allen-led team that hasn’t gotten to the playoffs with some of the easiest schedules in the league the last two years. Going all-in like this is smart when the team is competitive and winning playoff games. If the Saints can’t reach the postseason, what’s the point in all these cap gymnastics?
