Elvis' 2025 cap and roster cleanup proposal (19 Viewers)

[St. Widge]

Lets say you keep Carr and most of the roster intact for the next two years. What is the realistic best case for the team? Maybe we win the South? Maybe sneak out a playoff victory? The ceiling for this team is just not that high. Let's say we do win the South in 25-26, what then? Do we resign Carr. By 27 we are likely moving on or have moved on from Mathieu, Davis, Hill and Kamara. Not sure I see the upside of keeping this core together for a small chance at winning the division.

Carr is a fine QB, I think in the right support system with the right talent he could be a good QB, but I don't think he is the future for the Saints. By moving on from Carr now, it forces the team to start thinking about the long term future at QB. Give Rattler a year to see if he can develop and then if he does not got get the QB that Moore wants to build around.

Underhill made a good point about the Steelers on a pod the other day, about how they have a great organization that always has a winning record but have been unable to make any real SB run. Yeah it's nice when when you keep making the playoffs but even that can get stagnate after some time. Caught in this loop of always being good enough to win 9-12 games a year but never good enough to win it all.

I don't want want the Saints to get into this stagnate loop of mediocrity. Sometimes you just have to pull the band aid off.

Honestly if we were in a position to win 9 to 12 games every year it would be fine because you never know when you do take that jump up to be in or win a Super Bowl. Frankly if you are winning 9 to 12 every year you are one of the top 10 teams in the NFL. To get to the next level, you have to get lucky and get a franchise QB like Mahomes. Realistically you have to have that to be more than a consistent 9 to 12 win team.

The problem is that we aren't that right now. Right now we are a consistent 7 to 9 win team that just won 5. That's not a position you want to be in and with our formerly great, expensive players more or less done, it's time to do the rebuild. Frankly, it's happening no matter what we do so we might as well get it all done in one year to give Moore a clean slate in 2026. If we get really lucky, maybe we sneak into the playoffs with Rattler. If not then we get better draft picks to continue the rebuild.

 

[No2DC]

Bud, sometimes you are hilarious. NOWHERE has it been reported that the incoming HC will have a FEW YEARS grace period. What has been rumored is that the FO will be patient with the new HC . A few years ( which means at least 3) of tanking/losing will get any HC fired and the fan base and the team running away from the team in droves LOL LOL LOL

Damn, we actually agree on something. The whole grace period thing is being thrown around too casually now. If any coach is not winning by the second year they are sitting on a serious hot seat.

 

[Elvis]

Damn, we actually agree on something. The whole grace period thing is being thrown around too casually now. If any coach is not winning by the second year they are sitting on a serious hot seat.

No coach worth having is going to accept the pile of crap that DA and Loomis made without some assurances that they'll have an opportunity to reset it and then build a team. That is why it is important to do what I've outlined in the first post. It gets the team $42 million in cap space in June and has the rest of the bad contracts gone by the first day of the league year in 2026 with cap space to spare. Trade back in the draft for more top 100 picks this year and next and we'll have something.

 

[WhoDat?DrewDat]

Bud, sometimes you are hilarious. NOWHERE has it been reported that the incoming HC will have a FEW YEARS grace period. What has been rumored is that the FO will be patient with the new HC . A few years ( which means at least 3) of tanking/losing will get any HC fired and the fan base and the team running away from the team in droves LOL LOL LOL

I mean if you want to argue semantics over your definition of "time and support" fine, but most will interpret that as a multi year situation to be resolved.

More importantly though, you seem a bit frazzled. Really eager to jump down peoples necks.

Is everything okay at home?

 

[Jd101]

That seems like a good plan. The only move I'm not a fan of is restructuring Nathan Shepherd, but that's mostly because I think we need to upgrade that position. But, he would be good depth so it's not a big deal. Extending Juwan Johnson is obviously controversial, but I do think there is a player in there if he can stay healthy and the next OC can figure out how to use him correctly. I'm not sure he should really be a TE since his blocking isn't great and our mediocre OL and issues at RT mean he would often have to stay in to block or chip before running routes.

I'm still hoping for the cap to increase. And I instead of Carr being a June 1 cut I think that's when they'll announce ramcyks retirement

 

[DSnfla]

I mean if you want to argue semantics over your definition of "time and support" fine, but most will interpret that as a multi year situation to be resolved.

More importantly though, you seem a bit frazzled. Really eager to jump down peoples necks.

Is everything okay at home?

LOL semantics? You post your interpretation of a rumor that has no basis of fact and you call it semantics. SMH But it does
seem to be par for the course with you.

Ross Jackson also said that Russini clarified her remark saying that no one said that KM did not like the QB room, that IF he didn't take the job it COULD be that he didn't like the QB room.

When people like yourself post ridiculous things as facts they should not go unchallenged. I guess you just don't like being wrong

 

[Elvis]

I'm still hoping for the cap to increase. And I instead of Carr being a June 1 cut I think that's when they'll announce ramcyks retirement

The cap increase is already being estimated on the cap sites. It will be formalized in the coming weeks.

And Ramczyk’s contract does not need a June 1 designation. Those are for contracts that you want to end before guaranteed money or other obligations hit. Like in Carr’s case where his $30m salary becomes fully guaranteed on March 15th and we don’t want to pay that. Ram is at league minimum right now and they can wait for June to come and he will just retire.

 

[WhoDat?DrewDat]

Ross Jackson also said that Russini clarified her remark saying that no one said that KM did not like the QB room, that IF he didn't take the job it COULD be that he didn't like the QB room.

She clarified her remark by further backing up our situation and how our FO will not expect Moore to come in and immediately change things around.

I can link that too if you'd like.

 

[soggymoss84]

I think we need to move off Carr, whether that’s via trade or release. Carr is not the long term answer at QB, I know that, Kellen knows that, Mickey knows that, and this fan base knows that. Kellen needs to be able to see what he has in Spencer and/or Jake before a VERY good QB class coming in the 2026 draft. I will do two separate scenarios I would want, one being Carr trade, the other Carr release.

Trade:
Carr to Jets for a 5th and 6th round pick. He gets to go back with Adams and they get a stopgap QB. Saves $11,326,000
$40,767,813 over the cap

Restructures:
Cam: Saves $9,328,000
McCoy: Saves $6,744,000
Davis: Saves $5,928,000
Ruiz: Saves $6,384,000
Granderson: Saves $5,248,000
Mathieu: Saves $4,328,000
Shepard: Saves $2,904,000
Werner: Saves $2,520,000
$2,616,187 below the cap

Re-sign:
Young: 3 year 36 million. Lower his cap hit to around $5,000,000
Juwaun: 2 year 10 million. Lower his cap hit to around $2,000,000
$11,116,187 below the cap

Extension:
Olave: Lower his cap hit by $2,000,000
Foster: Lower his cap hit by $2,000,000
$15,116,187 below the cap

This is where I stop. We don't touch Taysom’s contract unless we have to (hopefully he takes a pay cut). If we need extra space we can gain an additional $10,250,000 cutting him after June 1st giving us a total of $25,000,000 in cap space to work with to sign draft picks and minimum/low salary players to round out the roster.

For a Carr June 1 designation, I would do everything above the same, expect I wouldn’t touch Cam’s contract, and we would just carry around 5 million in cap space until we get to June 1st where we would gain 30 million.

With these moves listed above we start the 2026 offseason with $75,136,375 in cap space, minus whatever the new extensions are. This is assuming all money in restructures are just pushed to 2026, it would likely be more.

In this scenario we get two extra draft picks in the back side of the draft, take every penny of Carr’s dead cap hit this season, and still gain around $25,000,000 in cap space, which is around what we have been operating with every season lately. Next year we can cut anybody of the older restructured players we want without cutting into any cap space, we would still have that $75,000,000 no matter if we cut all 3 of Cam, DD and Tyrann

 

[ravenblade23x]

Honestly if we were in a position to win 9 to 12 games every year it would be fine because you never know when you do take that jump up to be in or win a Super Bowl. Frankly if you are winning 9 to 12 every year you are one of the top 10 teams in the NFL. To get to the next level, you have to get lucky and get a franchise QB like Mahomes. Realistically you have to have that to be more than a consistent 9 to 12 win team.

The problem is that we aren't that right now. Right now we are a consistent 7 to 9 win team that just won 5. That's not a position you want to be in and with our formerly great, expensive players more or less done, it's time to do the rebuild. Frankly, it's happening no matter what we do so we might as well get it all done in one year to give Moore a clean slate in 2026. If we get really lucky, maybe we sneak into the playoffs with Rattler. If not then we get better draft picks to continue the rebuild.

I don't really disagree with what your saying...but ask a Steelers fan how they feel about there team right now. ( I know a few myself and there are ready to move on from Tomlin and just get a fresh face in the building.)

14 straight winning seasons since last SB appearance.(lost)
5 wild card losses
2 division losses
1 conference loss

After Big Ben retired they have been able to maintain a level of success but have not been able to find a QB to replace him. It's really hard to find the next franchise QB even if your drafting in the top 15. It's almost impossible when your constantly drafting in the bottom 10 of the draft.

I would almost bet it's more likely that the Steelers finally reach a breaking point and things get blown up before they find a SB caliber QB.

Having said that the gist of my point kind of remains the same. The Saints where clearly not a 5-12 team last year, in the since that without the injuries we likely make it back to that 8-9 range we have been hovering over the last few years.

There is a segment of the fan base that feels like if we stick with Carr, we might make that push to 10-11 wins in a weak division. My point is that this does not really achieve anything long term. We might be good enough with Carr to win the South for the next couple of years, but then what do we do after that?

For me it comes down two choices?

1. Keep Carr and try to win the South for the next couple of years, with virtually no chance of any really SB asperations. Then in 27 the most realistic best case would be a couple of early round playoff losses and your back to ask the same questions now about what the future at QB is and what talent do we even have left on the team at this point.

2. Move on from Carr he is not the future of the team, and that while there might be an outside chance of winning the division the most prudent course of action for long term success is to start the rebuild now. Moving on from Carr, forces the FO to look for a QB now. We start Rattler for a season and see if there is something there and if not we draft somebody in 26. Also gives us a head start on clearing up the cap so win 27 comes around if we do get lucky and find the next starting QB we have plenty of cap space to make a push.

The reality is there are no guarantees in football. Neither option is without it's pros and cons. The last 3 season have just not been fun to watch. It's likely we hire Moore, which is the clean break from the Payton/Brees era and I would like to continue that trend. Carr is a remnant of the previous coaching staff and the sooner we move on the better IMO>





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[soggymoss84]

I don't really disagree with what your saying...but ask a Steelers fan how they feel about there team right now. ( I know a few myself and there are ready to move on from Tomlin and just get a fresh face in the building.)

14 straight winning seasons since last SB appearance.(lost)
5 wild card losses
2 division losses
1 conference loss

After Big Ben retired they have been able to maintain a level of success but have not been able to find a QB to replace him. It's really hard to find the next franchise QB even if your drafting in the top 15. It's almost impossible when your constantly drafting in the bottom 10 of the draft.

I would almost bet it's more likely that the Steelers finally reach a breaking point and things get blown up before they find a SB caliber QB.

Having said that the gist of my point kind of remains the same. The Saints where clearly not a 5-12 team last year, in the since that without the injuries we likely make it back to that 8-9 range we have been hovering over the last few years.

There is a segment of the fan base that feels like if we stick with Carr, we might make that push to 10-11 wins in a weak division. My point is that this does not really achieve anything long term. We might be good enough with Carr to win the South for the next couple of years, but then what do we do after that?

For me it comes down two choices?

1. Keep Carr and try to win the South for the next couple of years, with virtually no chance of any really SB asperations. Then in 27 the most realistic best case would be a couple of early round playoff losses and your back to ask the same questions now about what the future at QB is and what talent do we even have left on the team at this point.

2. Move on from Carr he is not the future of the team, and that while there might be an outside chance of winning the division the most prudent course of action for long term success is to start the rebuild now. Moving on from Carr, forces the FO to look for a QB now. We start Rattler for a season and see if there is something there and if not we draft somebody in 26. Also gives us a head start on clearing up the cap so win 27 comes around if we do get lucky and find the next starting QB we have plenty of cap space to make a push.

The reality is there are no guarantees in football. Neither option is without it's pros and cons. The last 3 season have just not been fun to watch. It's likely we hire Moore, which is the clean break from the Payton/Brees era and I would like to continue that trend. Carr is a remnant of the previous coaching staff and the sooner we move on the better IMO>





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Yeah, being stuck in mediocrity is one of the worst things you can have. It’s far better for us to take a season to evaluate Spence and Jake in a new system than to roll out a stopgap in Carr.

Best case we have our future QB on the roster already, worst case we have to draft one, but we will have a high pick to do it.