A better way to look at it might be this which is true for any NFL team:
There are three resources to build an NFL team:
1. Draft
2. FA
3. UDFA
All three however are subject to the salary cap. While true the bill never comes due, it does have a hard limit.
The practical effect of the Saints way of managing it is that it’s limiting. Let’s say for the sake of argument a team has $100 to spend to build a roster and $50 is taken up by the QB leaving $50 for the rest of the players. Banking on cap going up to $120 the next year sound great in a vacuum but does present problems.
- that QB might cost $60 the next year or $70
- 31 other teams got that $20 increase as well.
- it might not increase at all.
- a team might spend some of those dollars of which there is only 100 of on a player that doesn’t pan out and can’t be reallocated easily.
While it doesn’t prevent placing a team on the field it might not be the one you want as the other 31 teams have at least some of that $100 on the positive side as opposed to starting out at -$50 each year.
A team can be fielded sure, but it comes at a cost that other teams can get players easier than if for no other reason than they have the $ to do it. The Saints can always find a way but that too comes at a cost on the roster.