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On Monday, the NFL informed teams that the 2023 salary cap would be a league-record $224.8 million per franchise. Each team was also informed of what the franchise tag salaries would be for each position.

Quarterback = $32,416,000
Running Back = $10,091,000
Wide Receiver = $19,743,000
Tight End = $11,345,000
O-Line = $18,244,000
Defensive End = $19,727,000
Defensive Tackle = $18,937,000
Linebacker = $20,926,000
Cornerback = $18,140,000
Safety = $14,460,000
Kicker/Punter = $5,393,000

Teams can apply the franchise tag beginning on February 21. The deadline to apply the tag is on March 7...

Last week we explored how a New Orleans Saints mock draft could be impacted by trading Sean Payton to the Denver Broncos. This time around we’re proposing a similar trade with the Arizona Cardinals, and then going through all seven rounds to explore various prospects who may be on the Saints’ radar.

We’re also trying to put an emphasis on players who will be competing at the Senior Bowl practices and all-star game this week, where multiple Saints coaches are going to be in attendance getting hands-on experience. That limited our player pool a bit, but it ended up highlighting some really...

The Falcons hired Ryan Nielsen to be their next defensive coordinator late last week, replacing the now-retired Dean Pees.

Nielsen had been with the Saints since 2017, first as the team’s defensive line coach, then as assistant head coach/defensive line coach, and finally as the co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach in 2022.

At practice for the Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas on Monday, Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith described Nielsen as “a big-picture guy,” adding that he likes the plan for Nielsen to build the system and the staff.

“Ryan is a guy I have a tremendous amount of...

As the Senior Bowl’s motto so succinctly states, the NFL draft starts in Mobile, and that always seems to be especially true with the New Orleans Saints.

Last year, the Saints used three of their five draft selections on players who participated in the Senior Bowl (Trevor Penning, Alontae Taylor and D’Marco Jackson), and they signed another as an undrafted free agent (Abram Smith).

The Saints are currently armed with six selections in the 2023 draft, and who knows, before the week is over they could have a few more in their pocket depending on what happens with former head coach Sean...

There might not be another player who made the most of his contract year with the New Orleans Saints in 2022 than Kaden Elliss. The veteran linebacker has been cast as a backup since being drafted out of Idaho back in 2019, logging more snaps on special teams (880) than defense (826) in his Saints career. But he got his opportunity to show what he can do when starting linebacker Pete Werner missed a large chunk of the 2022 season with an injury, and now Elliss has the Saints facing a really difficult decision.

Can they afford to let him get out of the building? Demario Davis is likely to...

It’s been almost a year since they called his name on draft day, but it’s tough to get a read on what Trevor Penning brings to the New Orleans Saints. The former first-round draft pick began his rookie year with a torn ligament in one foot and ended it with a Lisfranc fracture in the other foot, limiting him to just six games and a single start to evaluate. That’s a really tough break for a player who needs reps to adjust to the NFL after dominating a lower level of competition in college.

But there were times when we saw what the Saints liked so much in Penning to pick him so highly in...

Sean Payton’s job prospects suddenly look tenuous. The Arizona Cardinals have scheduled three head coach interviews after meeting with former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, adding New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as a third candidate to their list, per multiple reports.

This follows earlier reports of the Cardinals scheduling head coach interviews with both of the Cincinnati Bengals coordinators — Brian Callahan (offense) and Lou Anarumo (defense). So Arizona owner Michael Bidwill spent last Thursday talking with Payton at the team facility before driving him back...

The New Orleans Saints will have an NFL-record salary cap figure to work with as they make their roster decisions for 2023.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that the NFL has informed teams that the 2023 salary cap will be $224.8 million per squad.

The amount is a new record for the league, up from the previous record of $208.2 million per team in 2022. A Covid adjustment of $182.5 million in 2021 caused several drastic moves by teams throughout the league. It had been the first time in NFL history that the salary cap had been lowered from the previous year. The NFL cap was $198.2 million in 2020 and $188.2 million in 2019.

The salary cap increase is great news for the New Orleans Saints, as it obviously is for every franchise.

New Orleans has several key unrestricted free agents this offseason. Starters like breakout LB Kaden Elliss, DE Marcus Davenport, DT David Onyemata, QB Andy Dalton, and DT Shy Tuttle are all scheduled to hit free agency. Key reserves like DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, Kentavius Street, WR Deonte Harty, CB Bradley Roby, and S P.J. Williams will also be unrestricted free agents.


Jan 1, 2023; New Orleans Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss (55) reacts after sacking Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Gardner Minshew. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans also has several positions to address this offseason. Quarterback, defensive tackle, safety, running back, and depth at wide receiver are top priorities. The increase in cap space will make it easier to restructure the existing contracts of several stars, rather than being forced to release key veterans.

NFL teams may apply Franchise Tags to pending free agents beginning on February 21. The start of free agency, and the official beginning of the new league year, is on March 15.

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The leading rusher on the national champs tops Albert Breer’s list of players scouts should have their eyes on in Mobile this week.

It’s Senior Bowl week, which serves as the unofficial kickoff to draft season with the largest collection of draftable prospects in one place outside of the combine descending on Mobile, Ala. It really is a great few days down there, and to get you ready, so for my Six From Saturday, here are six (or seven, actually) guys I think you’ll be hearing about …

1) Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia: This is a pretty strong year for tailbacks in general, and McIntosh—a...

It’s been a long time since a player joined the New Orleans Saints with as much fanfare as Tyrann Mathieu. The hometown hero returned to New Orleans with lofty expectations as the crown jewel of their free agent class — and after some early-season frustrations, he met them. Now he’s an integral piece of their defense moving forward.

So how do you grade Mathieu’s first season with the Saints? Are those initial struggles worth holding against him, and did he do enough later in the year to make up for them? Let’s review his 2022 season in our free agent report card:

The offseason is underway for 30 of the NFL’s 32 teams and they now know the salary cap they’ll be working with in 2023.

The NFL informed teams that the cap will be set at $224.8 million for next season.

That’s up from $208.2 million for the current season and reflects the uptick in revenue that the league will enjoy from new broadcasting deals that kick in during the 2023 season. It also shows that the league has rebounded well from the drop to a $182.5 million salary cap in 2021 due to the impact of COVID on attendance and other revenues.

With the cap set, teams can now use that...

Good news, everyone: the NFL told teams Monday that it has set the 2023 salary cap per team at $224.8 million, which is great for the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans currently has a staggering $281.9 million in cap commitments for the 2023 season, which means they must clear more than $57.1 million to reach cap compliance before the start of the new league year on March 14. No team is over the cap by a wider margin than the Saints.

That’s easier said than done, but we’ve seen New Orleans work around the cap well before, and they’ll get there again. It’s going to be another busy offseason...

For a minute there it looked like Sean Payton would be the last man standing in the Arizona Cardinals head coach search, but the Cincinnati Bengals’ loss in the AFC championship game on Sunday put a couple of new names into contention. NFL Network reports that the Cardinals have requested permission to interview Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo (via Peter Schrager) as well as Cincinnati offensive coordinator Brian Callahan (via Tom Pelissero) for their open head coach position.

So both Bengals coordinators could be added to the mix, if they want to pursue this job. Anarumo and...

For years, many fans of the New Orleans Saints have thought the NFL hates their beloved team. Now, one day after the controversy in Kansas City in the AFC championship game, the league hates the Bengals, too!

Let’s get real. Jim Derry gets into debunking conspiracy theories and why the greatest controversial call of them all had ZERO bearing on the game. And after that, he even gets into the game itself (novel concept) with Larry Holder, who covers the NFL for The Athletic.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? What might have happened had Brock Purdy not been injured early in the game...

The New Orleans Saints have created a name for themselves with their ability to run the football over the years.

From Deuce McAllister to Pierre Thomas and Alvin Kamara, this franchise has had some great running backs in its history.

2022 was a year where Kamara led the backfield as he has for the last few years. However, the former Tennessee star was under-utilized in his lead role. Let’s look at how the year went down:

Kamara

AK ran the ball for 897 yards on 223 carries this season, which is an average of right at 4 yards a carry. However, in my honest opinion, the Saints ran him up...

The New Orleans Saints had one of the most underwhelming years in a decade this season for many reasons. However, while missing Lattimore for the majority of the year, the secondary did more than enough to win games.

The Saints had the second-best passing defense in the NFL (184.4 YPG) only behind Philly (175.9).

A big part of that success was rookie Alontae Taylor. Taylor missed some games early then proceeded to hit the ground running. With Lattimore injured, Dennis Allen pretty much threw Taylor to the wolves… DA often gave Taylor the Lattimore treatment (having him on an island with...