dead money kills us again

Mahomes cap hit extends out to 2031 at $40-50M/yr isnt that the same not yet fully realised problem you are admonishing the Saints for?
Mahomes is in his prime, and it's 2022 (he really did the chiefs a favor), and he will probably renegotiate to get more money before then. Drew has been gone for almost 2 years, and we don't get rid of his cap hit until after this year.