Cap people - what's the fastest way out of the hole? (2 Viewers)

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

I’ve been researching it and looking through the numbers, we can get the cap sheet right in one season, but we would have to be committed to a rebuild, that would mean cutting Carr, Lattimore, Mathiu, Cam etc.

I was planning on sitting down and making a detailed thread about how we can achieve it, just haven’t had the time to do that yet.

Carr probably stays for one more year
Mathieu, Spotrac is showing him as a FA next year but they must not have taken into account the extension. Regardless, I'd keep him...but asking him to play FS is a bit much. He should be a SS at this point
Lattimore should be traded. I'd rather keep him vs Adebo and yet I think If you upgrade S, Adebo looks better. He's younger and healthier w/ elite ball skills.
Cam should be looking to retire. Wouldn't mind him as a backup LDE though, he can still stop run.
Davis....Hmmm....unsure about what I'd do there.

Not my rule. My name is Rod not Rex.

But ill concede this one time... last week i said clowns make people's booties tingle... just wanted to tingle your booty.

I guffawed

 

[St. Geezy]

I agree with that, but the consequence of that is you don't have any real flexibility when it comes to older players like Demario, Jordan, Ram, etc. when they reach the point that they have to retire and are no longer real contributors. At that point you have too much money tied up in players that aren't contributing and you can't cut them.

That's why I think at this point it's time to reset the cap so that you can start pushing money to the future to get ready for another title run.

I think we are trying to find a healthy balance between remaining competitive/maybe a couple of lucky acquisitions or great draft away from greatness while also still doing a reset.

Quite honestly, I don’t know if our market can sustain a true, intentional rebuild commitment, an abyss many teams never climb out of.

I really think we were well on our way to getting the best of both worlds prior to the injury bug making it’s annual appearance starting in week 3.

 

[B4YOU]

Yeah, sadly that is why I believe they won't truly have a clean cap until 2027. With only $31m projected free currently for 2026's cap by Spotrac, it feels fairly safe to assume 2026 will continue to involve the Saints "paying for their sins".



Since the Saints hired Ireland in 2015, they have made 62 selections in the draft.

In that same time frame, the Ravens have made 91 picks.

Yep. We draft less not just because we trade up. We also have to structure contracts with void years. This means we miss out on comp picks because we cut players instead of losing them in FA.

 

[St. Widge]

Not my rule. My name is Rod not Rex.

But ill concede this one time... last week i said clowns make people's booties tingle... just wanted to tingle your booty.

That's rather flattering. Plus, I already know I'm a clown.

 

[St. Widge]

I think we are trying to find a healthy balance between remaining competitive/maybe a couple of lucky acquisitions or great dreads away from greatness while also still doing a reset.

Quite honestly, I don’t know if our market can sustain a true, intentional rebuild commitment, an abyss many teams never climb out of.

I really think we were well on our way to getting the best of both worlds prior to the injury bug making it’s annual appearance starting in week 3.

I do think that they won't do a total tear down and I'm not sure there is any point in it, they need to be competitive to sell tickets, and as you said tearing it apart can just result in being Cleveland forever.

But, I could see them moving on from guys like Kamara and there won't be any option but to move on from Cam and Demario soon. And if Rattler plays well, Carr could be out after next year. With Ram likely retiring that is going to be a lot of cap space opened up just naturally over the next year or two. Personally, I would move on from Taysom too. He's a great player but at his age and the way he plays, he's never going to be able to stay healthy if you give him enough snaps to justify is salary,.

I also think it makes some sense to keep a guy like Tyrann on the team to have a vet to teach younger players what the standard is.

But, that is all contingent on getting a head coach to set the standard and frankly, if they don't go get a new coach, I don't think they will be selling many season tickets next year. Apathy is really starting to set in with the fanbase. They need a new coach to build excitement and sell tickets.

 

[Rouxble]

We have to get cap compliant before the new year. Jordan and Ram have zero reason to take a paycut when we can’t get complaint without restructuring them.

The solution was not signing Carr or Jordan while trading Kamara in 23.

The 2025 solution - cut Kamara. He is the only player with enough savings to dead cap to make a difference. We will restructure/extend our top 8 players to kick the can while begging for paycuts. We need to trade Lattimore and/or Carr. It won’t get better until 2026 or 2027.

It may be wishful thinking for Cam, but I think Ram will help us out. He won’t see a penny of that money whether he takes a cut or not, and he took a cut this year even though he could have stood his ground. It would be similar to what Brees did for us when he retired, give us extra space until the retirement is official.

Cam may not be ready to retire, but as I said elsewhere that can be offset by trading Lattimore for the same savings. Once we’ve cleared the space with that trade (or other restructures), we can decide how we want to handle Cam’s contract.

 

[OldTimeGamer1966]

Nah, those where the "we're still in it" years.

The problem is they still think that way. They need to realize it is time for a change in culture once again. DA is a stop gap or more like a roadblock and his record as a HC shows it. If they don't do something soon this will just keep on going year after year.

 

[Plow]

Study how the K.C. Chiefs manage their roster/payroll and do the same. The Saints need to be willing to re-evaluate their business rules and adjust accordingly.
And hire outside experts to look at their conditioning program with respect to injuries.

 

[St. Geezy]

Study how the K.C. Chiefs manage their roster/payroll and do the same. The Saints need to be willing to re-evaluate their business rules and adjust accordingly.
And hire outside experts to look at their conditioning program with respect to injuries.

Step 1: Draft superstar, all-world QB that may go down as the best ever.

Easy.

 

[Plow]

Step 1: Draft superstar, all-world QB that may go down as the best ever.

Easy.

If the Saints had observed basic opsec prior to the draft, Mahomes would be wearing black and gold...
.

 

[St. Geezy]

If the Saints had observed basic opsec prior to the draft, Mahomes would be wearing black and gold...
.

Yep! We’d still be rolling, SP would still be here, and we’d have at least one more Lombardi on the mantle by now, maybe even two.

 

[St. Widge]

If the Saints had observed basic opsec prior to the draft, Mahomes would be wearing black and gold...
.

If Sean Payton had observed basic opsec prior to the draft.

But, honestly, despite what the said, I'm not 100% sure Payton really would have taken Mahomes in that draft.

 

[Saint Jack]

Step 1: Draft superstar, all-world QB that may go down as the best ever.

Easy.

Actually, they hired a new coach.
Low key. That turnaround was magnificent.
I remember the Christmas Season of 2012 when the Jovan Belcher incident happened and it looked like the Chiefs would never escape from that.

 

[Merl]

To get under and reset won't be that hard, but you have to be ok with giving up a lot of fan favorites.

To Clear Cap:
Cut Carr and AK with Post June 1 designations. Renegotiate Cam Jordan down to league minimum and ask him to go on IR (retire) for the year like they did with Ramczyk. Do something similar with Demario, but he has $4.25mil guaranteed, so renegotiate his overall salary to that and hope to get something out of him at 36 years old. Cut Ramczyk and Jamal Williams straight up. Trade Lattimore for what you can get. Get Taysom to take a 3/4 salary pay cut or just cut him. If you have to cut Hill rather than renegotiate, you'll have to play around with some other contracts to have enough room to build the rest of the roster.

I'm sure there are things that I'm missing that might not make ALL of this feasible, but it's pretty close. That clears enough cap to get under and pay for your draft picks. Everyone else will have to be minimum salary guys. Doing that give the team $141 million in cap space in 2026 and likely a top 3 pick to use on a QB if Rattler or Haener have proven to not be the guy.

Don't believe that will work since you don't get the cap savings on the June 1 cuts until June 1.

 

[jasonsw]

This team is clearly done. The window has really been closed since Allen took over but it should be clear to even the most optimistic fans that this current team is finished as any sort of playoff contender. The time is to rebuild. Unfortunately, Mickey and his malfeasance with the cap has made that incredibly difficult. But it has to stop.

Sunk cost fallacy will only prolong the pain. This is a 3-4 year rebuild. The only goal for the rest of the season is to see if Rattler is a potential future starter and to evaluate the young players.

Guys who need to be cut (unfortunately, we're probably stuck with some including Carr [barf] for at least one more year - thanks Mickey! I say cut because they have little to no trade value.

Jordan
Davis
Mathieu
Carr
Ram
Turner
Williams

Trade. Get anything you can. None of these guys will be good by the time the team is decent again. Olave just needs to go because he's going to end up like Brandin Cooks - constantly concussed and he's also just not worth keeping with his general demeanor.

Hill
Kamara
Lattimore
Young
Olave

Build Around:

Fuaga
Adebo (maybe, is he any good?)
McCoy
Bresee
Werner
Taylor
Granderson
Shaheed


No one else on the roster worth mentioning IMO. Don't care if they keep or cut the rest. It's a talent devoid roster. Needs to be rebuilt. I don't think anyone other than maybe Fuaga and Bresee are untouchable. Even McCoy I'd consider training for the a decent pick.

The goal for this team should be to completely bottom out and get top 5 picks the next two years and find a QB.

Your not getting anything out of Hill, maybe something decent with Kamara, Olave is the best chip. Its best do with him what they did with Cooks, trade him. He is not the type of reciever a franchise pays. Gotta keep Latt. He is the best at his position ive seen in a Saints uni. Also trade Abedo. Some team will fall in love with his stat line. Not realize for every interception is 5 bad plays he does in between.

The best way to get out of this is to not really hand out contracts the next two years. If saints do, make sure its for a franchise player.