Saints could get to $14.61 million under the cap without restructuring Derek Carr, after Saints salary cap potentially increases by $5M

St. Geezy said
I am talking about adding a key piece or two and replacing some role players, not to go on some wild $100 million spending spree.

A Mekhi Becton, a good big WR and/or tight end, a run stuffer, re-sign a Chase Young, an adequate safety is what I am talking about. Not signing a bunch of top rated free agents and then overspending on other guys just to meet minimum spend thresholds.

I don’t think it’s accurate to say we haven’t maximized. We literally just signed the league’s highest paid free agent two seasons ago (for better or for worse) at a time we had no money.

THIS. What the Saints will likely do is what the Saints have always done. They aren't going to do what Washington tried to do in the early 2010s but they aren't going to tank or sit out free agency and just rely on the draft. This means signing mostly mid-tier FAs to fill needs in free agencies and spending big on occasion to sign a player the coach wants despite the appearance that they have no money under the salary cap. If I was forced to predict 2 things the Saints will do, it would be this:

1. We're going to see Kellen Moore and his staff get rid of players that we didn't see moving in favor of players what we didn't predict the Saints would be interested in. While we are still stuck on the current picture of the Saints, the new staff will have no such loyalty and it will be evident throughout the entire first off season up until final cut down. We have NO idea what this staff will value, but Loomis will help them bring their vision to life.

2. Try to win games.