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By John Sigler | Saintswire

The day is still young but the New Orleans Saints are hard at work in reaching salary cap compliance ahead of free agency. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported a contract extension with safety J.T. Gray and a restructure of defensive tackle David Onyemata’s contract on Wednesday, which followed the re-signing of defensive end Noah Spence earlier this week. So where do the Saints stand against the salary cap now?

It’s still not good, but it’s not as bad as where they started. Right now, I have the Saints with more than $66.72 million to chip away before they’ll be under the salary cap. Here’s how I arrived at that number.

Previous moves — a pay cut from Drew Brees and the release of guard Nick Easton — combined to create $29.8 million in savings. Additionally, the Saints rolled over $4.1 million in unspent cap space from 2020. The NFL and the players union agreed to set the 2021 salary cap no lower than $180 million, which combines with that rollover to create a goal of $184.1 million for New Orleans. ...

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By John Sigler | Saintswire

There goes another domino: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the New Orleans Saints have agreed to a contract restructure with defensive tackle David Onyemata, which creates $4.34 million in salary cap space for 2021. It’s not a lot, but it’s another important step towards cap compliance ahead of free agency later in March.

It’s important to note that this is not a pay cut — Onyemata is getting his money now while raising his future cap hits, giving him some more job security. The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell did a great job explaining the mechanics of this move. Onyemata converted $4.34 million of his $7 million salary into a signing bonus, taking it off of the books for 2021 and pushing it into the future. ...

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By John Sigler | Saintswire


The New Orleans Saints released veteran tight ends Jared Cook and Josh Hill per Wednesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire. Cook’s release was expected, given his big $8 million roster bonus was due in a few weeks, which the Saints were not going to pay after his subpar 2020 campaign. The decision to cut Hill is more surprising, though New Orleans could use the $2.5 million in salary cap savings it brings.

Hill was one of the longest-tenured players on the roster, having appeared in 117 regular season games since 2013. He and Cook were co-starters the last two years, playing frequently together while 2020 rookie Adam Trautman learned the ropes behind them. Hill logged 1,008 snaps on offense over the last two seasons, whereas Cook was in on 968 plays. While Cook was a receiver first and foremost, Hill has been one of Sean Payton’s most highly-valued blockers for almost a decade. ...

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By Brad Crawford | 247 Sports

There are too many obstacles in the way of a blockbuster trade centered around the Seattle Seahawks moving Russell Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for Dak Prescott, according to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. Prescott has leverage with the Cowboys and continues to seek a mega deal while the situation in Seattle with Wilson appears to be deteriorating.

"Don't see the Cowboys being able to make a move for Russell Wilson as much sense as it might make to some," Schefter said Tuesday on his ESPN podcast. "To do that, they would have to get Dak Prescott traded to Seattle, and Dak Prescott would have to be willing to sign, what we think will be his franchise tender, to make that trade possible. Why would Dak Prescott cooperate with the Dallas Cowboys and allow them to dictate where he's going to go in the future? He doesn't owe them that. And so he's not going to do that.

"By being in the position he is now, Dak Prescott has an unofficial no-trade clause. Because unless he signs his franchise tender, they can't trade him. They cannot. So Dak Prescott is controlling that situation. So it makes Dallas illogical and improbable. Nothing in this league is impossible, though, so you never know. But again, illogical and improbable." ...

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