Saints Cap Moves: $27,329,433 cap space ….. 8 restructures, 3 extensions, 3 pay cut, 1 release [Wilson Jr. reduces salary, Young’s cap updated] (219 Viewers)

[Bayareasaint]

Clearing cap space for Amari cooper maybe?

That man is cooked!! He's done.

Why are they trimming the cap with a fine toothed comb? Why is having 32 mil under is better than having 31 mil under? Why kick Cedric Wilson can right now? Due diligence or something else?

Wilson took a straight pay cut. No kicking of the can here.

 

[St. Widge]

We are definitely maxing the cap out as much as possible. Something is coming.

I just can’t see what the due diligence would be for at this stage.

I know you have long thought they were going to really spend big in free agency this year, but at this point I don't know who they would spend money on that would use up that cap space. I think they created it for Ward and/or Kupp and are keeping it going either because they want to roll it over or they plan to give new deals to guys that are on the roster right now and can front load them if they have a bunch of cap space they don't need this year. i.e. Alontae Taylor, Shaheed, Olave, and/or Penning.

I'm sure they will do some more small deals in free agency but I can't imagine it's going to eat up $30 million in cap space this year.

 

[St. Widge]

I wouldn’t be mad if we splurged like that from a financial standpoint if he was already a free agent; I just don’t think it’s smart to do that AND fork over significant draft compensation.

That’s the sort of thing you do when you have a sure-fire, 15-2/14-3 type roster. Like a “You just lost the SB/championship game and want one final piece” type move.

Yeah, I think the Bengals want at least a 1st which is too much for this team to give up for a guy his age. If he was a free agent, I'd be okay with a 2 or 3 year deal for him but not with the draft compensation the Bengals want at this point.

Plus, I've seen reports that the Bengals are working on a new deal with him.

 

[St. Geezy]

I know you have long thought they were going to really spend big in free agency this year, but at this point I don't know who they would spend money on that would use up that cap space. I think they created it for Ward and/or Kupp and are keeping it going either because they want to roll it over or they plan to give new deals to guys that are on the roster right now and can front load them if they have a bunch of cap space they don't need this year.

I'm sure they will do some more small deals in free agency but I can't imagine it's going to eat up $30 million in cap space this year.

Yeah I was mostly going off of ML’s word that we’d be aggressive. Seems like we tried to but didn’t want to overspend on our targets.

Wouldn’t make sense to create it just to roll it over.

There are still plenty of free agents left, and also keep an eye on the trade market. There could be a high salaried guy or two out there that we are eyeing to try to absorb.

 

[SonOfNOLA]

Cap space at $27,329,433 right now after Chase’s new 2025 cap hit is updated from $2,272,000

 

[SaintsMan209]

Im really hoping that harbaugh is dumb enough to trade Herbert to us. That’s my pipedream

 

[RJS]

Yeah I was mostly going off of ML’s word that we’d be aggressive. Seems like we tried to but didn’t want to overspend on our targets.

Wouldn’t make sense to create it just to roll it over.

There are still plenty of free agents left, and also keep an eye on the trade market. There could be a high salaried guy or two out there that we are eyeing to try to absorb.

The other possibility is that they're keeping cap space available to take on a $20mil dead cap hit...

 

[Rexman100]

We are definitely maxing the cap out as much as possible. Something is coming.

I just can’t see what the due diligence would be for at this stage.

the only thing i could think is optics. Top ten team with the most cap space, Saints at 8 bla bla. Fans then stop the narrative.. I'm hoping there's more to it than optics!

 

[St. Geezy]

Im really hoping that harbaugh is dumb enough to trade Herbert to us. That’s my pipedream

Harbaugh has already declared that Herbert is the last quarterback he will ever coach.

 

[Rexman100]

Wilson took a straight pay cut. No kicking of the can here.

oh, i didnt know that. Ok

 

[St. Geezy]

the only thing i could think is optics. Top ten team with the most cap space, Saints at 8 bla bla. Fans then stop the narrative.. I'm hoping there's more to it than optics!

Haha, fun thought, but I definitely don’t think the Saints care about that.

 

[St. Geezy]

I’ll just drop this here…

Packers still attempting to trade CB Jaire Alexander

The Packers are still attempting to trade CB Jaire Alexander, per ESPN.

packerswire.usatoday.com

A new shutdown CB would completely change the outlook of our defense, in one swift stroke.

 

[B4YOU]

I know you have long thought they were going to really spend big in free agency this year, but at this point I don't know who they would spend money on that would use up that cap space. I think they created it for Ward and/or Kupp and are keeping it going either because they want to roll it over or they plan to give new deals to guys that are on the roster right now and can front load them if they have a bunch of cap space they don't need this year. i.e. Alontae Taylor, Shaheed, Olave, and/or Penning.

I'm sure they will do some more small deals in free agency but I can't imagine it's going to eat up $30 million in cap space this year.

We will spend about 12M on drafted rookie contracts with 8M being top 51. We could add a 6-8M OG. That leaves about 15M cap. Unspent cap rolls to next year. I can see us holding that so we walk into 2026 not being forced to restructure aging players. KMoore can then buy the players needed after a season.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Ross right now talking about Saints stockpiling money and why possibly….

 

[Rouxble]

Yeah I was mostly going off of ML’s word that we’d be aggressive. Seems like we tried to but didn’t want to overspend on our targets.

Wouldn’t make sense to create it just to roll it over.

There are still plenty of free agents left, and also keep an eye on the trade market. There could be a high salaried guy or two out there that we are eyeing to try to absorb.

It seems like the 49ers run their books that way, creating significantly more space than needed each year.

In 2023, they spent $75m in restructuring bonuses (plus $9m in option bonuses) and rolled $38m in cap forward.

In 2024, they spent $67m in restructuring bonuses (plus $21m in option bonuses) and rolled $50m in cap forward.

In both years, they could have still had plenty of room to operate without any restructuring bonuses.

Also noteworthy that whether they restructure a player is a hint on whether that player will be re-signed the following year. There were no restructures for these players with significant base salaries in 2024:

Charvarius Ward (Colts)
Talanoa Hufanga (Broncos)
Dre Greenlaw (Broncos)
Aaron Banks (Packers)

They seem to try to capture more of the cap hit in the current year if they don't expect the player to be with them the following year.