Saints Cap Moves: $27,092,090 cap space ….. 8 restructures, 3 extensions, 3 pay cut, 1 release [All current cap moves are in OP]

Rexman100 said
Just a little added info. Mickey never goes “all in” He gets to a point in negotiations then bails. He refuses to overpay, and it’s a good thing most of the time. We saw it with Watson. But with that strategy you’re also not landing by time big name free agents. We saw that this year. So all that to say, IMO, there’s no way the Saints trade to #1 overall to get Ward. The most that they’ll trade up is 2-3 spots at most. I also think we’re at a point salary cap wise, that we cannot afford to be a great team. If we had Burrow, Chase, Hendrickson and Higgins, we’d only be able to sign Burrow. We really need to apply 2025’s cap savings to 2026 and get right.

The OP is correct in that the Saints org doesn't typically restructure to create cap space unless/until it is necessary to facilitate another contemplated move. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Saints org had created that space to accommodate a targeted player. But it obviously hasn't happened (yet?) for whatever reason. Perhaps a swing and a miss? I'm fine with that....we had the opportunity. We weren't so handcuffed that we couldn't even try. I can support the sincere effort.

But usually when the Saints swing & miss on a player, they quickly pivot to their 2nd choice. That seemingly hasn't happened here. I've been wondering if the Saints aren't trying to create as much unused cap as they can, with intention of rolling it forward into 2026 to accommodate the DC4 contract situation? Either DC4 gets tweaked and his performance lives up to his contract in 2025, or he's gone in 2026. Both propositions will be expensive options. An extra say....$15-$20M rolled into next year's cap would alleviate a lot of pain no matter which option is pursued.

I'm not saying the Saints ARE or are NOT doing that, but it would connect the dots in a coherent fashion if they were. I think Rex is right. This would be a very interesting (and prudent!) strategy to pursue, IMO, if that is what is being done. JMO...