Saints Cap Moves: $33,780,933 cap space ….. 8 restructures, 3 extensions, 3 pay cut, 1 release [All current cap moves are in OP below line] (65 Viewers)

[WilliamBrees]

I can see New England making a trade for Carr now that they are suddenly going after Diggs.

They cant get Cam Ward..

Drake Maye and Josh Dobbs arent even close to carrying the torch..



just my opinion and a shot into the dark.

Not at all. Maye did quite well.

 

[St4ever]

The problem is Carr isn't acting like he wants to be here. In fact, I think one could put up a solid argument that his actions are stating he doesn't want to be here or plans to play somewhere else in 2025. Even bridge QB's tend to act like leaders and try to succeed for their following season potential destinations. Look at the spot Aaron Rodgers is in. No one wants him. He didn't act like a leader, he didn't put in the work for massive success. He just kind of seemed to go out last season and wing it, week in and week out. That's the vibe Carr is currently putting out. Rodgers was quite a bit more extreme, getting his HC fired. But still. If he started playing well and was successful after the HC was gone, he'd likely have suitors. But he doesn't.

I think what Carr does not act like is the face of the franchise!
I really Cannot blame Carr for not being happy since he signed he is now in his third offensive system. Carr realizes that he has a limited time to continue playing the game and most likely is getting frustrated with the constant change.

 

[Judge_Smails]

There is 1 thing that would change the internet reporting world so much for the better. If there was some way you could take your click back if you didn't like the podcast or the story so that these sensational wild podcasts and stories would not benefit from the " Ohh I gotta see what this is all about" clicks. You can unlike and you can cancel a subscription but you can't take back a click once it clicked

It would be like being able to get your cover charge back when you pay to go see a musician play and they’re only loud and combative rather than interesting and good.

 

[WilliamBrees]

Btw I am seeing nothing about the Titans trading down other than PFF. And many think they would be stupid to trade out of number 1.

There's a scenario where they will first trade with the Giants and then trade further down to get Dart. But the thought of that would make them a laughing stock for years.

I don't think anyone else trades down, especially the Browns after keeping Garrett.

I think this may have had to with Hendrickson.

 

[Elvis]

I think the team is looking ahead to 2026, not trying to sign anybody big for this year. 2026 is going to be much harder than many on here think it will be. I will be going under the assumption the cap will be around $300 million.

In 2026 we have many voiding contracts that carry more than $67 million in dead money. In addition to that, Carr will cost $32 million if he is restructured again. That's around $99 million accounting for just for one player. In the worst case scenario they cut Carr and it goes up to $126 million in cap for no player on the roster, breaking the all time dead cap record by roughly $41 million. This is the number I will use as most believe 2025 is Carr's last season with the team.

That leaves roughly $174 million in 2026 for the 51 players that count toward the cap. The next problem is that after Carr is cut, there are only 34 other players under contract and that $174 million has to cover them all and players like Penning, Olave and Taylor are not included as they will be free agents in 2026, unless the team picks up 5th year options for Olave which would cost around $22 million. Let's say they do exercise Olave's option, $174m - $21m (cost of the option) = $153m. So now we have added 1 more players for a total of 35, but only have $153m for the other 34 players plus the other 17 new players to get to 51 players. All of that $153m is already used up and we are over the cap for 2026 and still need to add those 17 players to get to the 51.

And because we are left with a pile of young player on rookie contracts that can't be restructured, there isn't nearly as much room for restructures as there has been in the past. We can probably get around $55m in restructures as it stands now, will be more once Justin Reid's contract is added, but the amount of cap space will also go down so it's pretty much a wash.

To make a long story short, I think they are creating rollover cap money that they can count on right now, just so they can field a full roster next year. It's not for some great player this year.

 

[tyler735]

So is there not a significant potential savings next year if we were to “post 6/1” cut or trade Carr next offseason? I get there would still be dead money, but Sportrac and Overthecap show a $50million in savings for next season it looks like it would split the dead cap hit up too. Not pretending to be an expert in cap management stuff, so I may be reading it wrong

Derek Carr Contract Details, Salary Cap Charges, Bonus Money, and Contract History | Over The Cap

Derek Carr contract and salary cap details, including signing bonus, guaranteed salary, dead money, roster bonuses, and contract history

overthecap.com

 

[WilliamBrees]

I think most obvious in your previous post was the significant shift. Despite people thinking that Loomis wouldn't have fired Allen, the dramatic pivot from spending suggest that he recalibrated his expectations. I see the same thing w/ Carr going into his 3rd year. There were extremely high expectations that Carr could run Paytons offense. The reality wasn't that, they adjusted...and while he was good, he also missed games. Loomis has recalibrated slightly.

He's going to give Carr the chance to have a healthy productive season, and likely expects it just like he did of Allen last year. If it's good he'll move on end of the year, but perhaps we can trade him vs cut. Ironically I'm sure if it's subpar people will be clamoring for Carr to be benched mid-season. I wonder if the scenario ends up the same as it did for Allen.

Carr posted a video on IG back in January of a footage of his plays. Carr made some excellent deep throws and one thing I noticed is that upon making those great throws he was inches from being sacked.

I'm realizing Shaheed bailed out a bad OL. But when defenses started to figure out MVS or when MVS shows his inconsistency, that's when those inches force Carr to get sacked or throw it away. That's why with McCoy after week 13, the OL got exposed. It was MVS or bust. I do believe the offense plays better with Carr. The second half adjustment thing I felt was on Rattler, and Rattler made us look as bad as we did(The Raiders get outsmarted more often by average teams than not). Carr didn't have that problem. And we never got that opportunity to see what Haener could do on adjusting.

 

[St. Geezy]

I think the team is looking ahead to 2026, not trying to sign anybody big for this year. 2026 is going to be much harder than many on here think it will be. I will be going under the assumption the cap will be around $300 million.

In 2026 we have many voiding contracts that carry more than $67 million in dead money. In addition to that, Carr will cost $32 million if he is restructured again. That's around $99 million accounting for just for one player. In the worst case scenario they cut Carr and it goes up to $126 million in cap for no player on the roster, breaking the all time dead cap record by roughly $41 million. This is the number I will use as most believe 2025 is Carr's last season with the team.

That leaves roughly $174 million in 2026 for the 51 players that count toward the cap. The next problem is that after Carr is cut, there are only 34 other players under contract and that $174 million has to cover them all and players like Penning, Olave and Taylor are not included as they will be free agents in 2026, unless the team picks up 5th year options for Olave which would cost around $22 million between them. Let's say they do exercise Olave's option, $174m - $21m (cost of the option) = $153m. So now we have added 1 more players for a total of 35, but only have $153m for the other 34 players plus the other 17 new players to get to 51 players. All of that $153m is already used up and we are over the cap for 2026 and still need to add those 17 players to get to the 51.

And because we are left with a pile of young player on rookie contracts that can't be restructured, there isn't nearly as much room for restructures as there has been in the past. We can probably get around $55m in restructures as it stands now, will be more once Justin Reid's contract is added, but the amount of cap space will also go down so it's pretty much a wash.

To make a long story short, I think they are creating rollover cap money that they can count on right now, just so they can field a full roster next year. It's not for some great player this year.

I could buy this if it weren’t for a couple of things…1.) we have gone after some high priced free agents and gotten outbid past our final number. 2.) the space we made this year to be applied next year could be created next year. There’s no real advantage to creating the space a year ahead of time.

As much as I harp on the fact that the team has indicated they want Carr as their starting QB next year, I would say the team aligning themselves to move on from him this year has better odds than this being some sort of long game play to move space to next year.

I personally subscribe to the theory that there is a back channel trade being worked out behind the scenes. We seem to really want a big time corner or a new WR target, but all is quiet on any free agent pursuits. There is also the gaping hole at LG.

I have a hard time seeing us creating space, pursuing who/what we have pursued, then just creating more space merely to sit on it. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[Doug B]

In addition to that, Carr will cost $32 million if he is restructured again. That's around $99 million accounting for just for one player. In the worst case scenario they cut Carr and it goes up to $126 million in cap for no player on the roster

Is this accurate? None of Carr's money is pushed out to 2027?

 

[St. Widge]

I could buy this if it weren’t for a couple of things…1.) we have gone after some high priced free agents and gotten outbid past our final number. 2.) the space we made this year to be applied next year could be created next year. There’s no real advantage to creating the space a year ahead of time.

As much as I harp on the fact that the team has indicated they want Carr as their starting QB next year, I would say the team aligning themselves to move on from him this year has better odds than this being some sort of long game play to move space to next year.

I personally subscribe to the theory that there is a back channel trade being worked out behind the scenes. We seem to really want a big time corner or a new WR target, but all is quiet on any free agent pursuits. There is also the gaping hole at LG.

I have a hard time seeing us creating space, pursuing who/what we have pursued, then just creating more space merely to sit on it. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Not all of the things they did this year to create cap space can be done next year. Specifically pay cuts for Cam, Tyrann, Wilson, and eventually Hill, can only be done this year since they are all in the last year of their contracts. IIRC, that's already around $16 million for Cam and Tyrann and I think could be around another $10 million for Hill.

Maybe this is for some sort of big trade, although I haven't heard that anyone that has a big salary is available, but I think it's more likely to try to get guy like Allen and Scherff on one year deals in the $8 to $10 million range which they likely won't take until at least June 1 if they are still on the market.

The less likely possibility is that they are clearing space to trade Carr, but it's for this year after June 1.

At the same point after missing on Ward and Cupp, they may have decided that they will just roll the money over to make the cap easier to deal with next year.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Carr posted a video on IG back in January of a footage of his plays. Carr made some excellent deep throws and one thing I noticed is that upon making those great throws he was inches from being sacked.

I'm realizing Shaheed bailed out a bad OL. But when defenses started to figure out MVS or when MVS shows his inconsistency, that's when those inches force Carr to get sacked or throw it away. That's why with McCoy after week 13, the OL got exposed. It was MVS or bust. I do believe the offense plays better with Carr. The second half adjustment thing I felt was on Rattler, and Rattler made us look as bad as we did(The Raiders get outsmarted more often by average teams than not). Carr didn't have that problem. And we never got that opportunity to see what Haener could do on adjusting.

I don’t disagree, though I think the lack of 2nd half adjustments superseded Rattler because in the games Carr played we struggled in the 2nd half too. That was more on coaching staff than singling out a rookie QB as the culprit.

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Not all of the things they did this year to create cap space can be done next year. Specifically pay cuts for Cam, Tyrann, Wilson, and eventually Hill, can only be done this year since they are all in the last year of their contracts. IIRC, that's already around $16 million for Cam and Tyrann and I think could be around another $10 million for Hill.

Maybe this is for some sort of big trade, although I haven't heard that anyone that has a big salary is available, but I think it's more likely to try to get guy like Allen and Scherff on one year deals in the $8 to $10 million range which they likely won't take until at least June 1 if they are still on the market.

The less likely possibility is that they are clearing space to trade Carr, but it's for this year after June 1.

At the same point after missing on Ward and Cupp, they may have decided that they will just roll the money over to make the cap easier to deal with next year.

I think the last paragraph is the most likely and subscribe to Ross’s thinking. Having that much money helps w/ a rollover if you are planning to absorb the hit in 2026. It also helps with absorbing a 2025 hit if you trade him post June 1.

If Roux is right and the spending is minimal I see no reason for another high priced move that will cost money and draft capital to execute. It’s one thing to go after Cupp or the CB and it just cost you money, it’s another to be in the big time trade market if it cost you both.

 

[St. Geezy]

Not all of the things they did this year to create cap space can be done next year. Specifically pay cuts for Cam, Tyrann, Wilson, and eventually Hill, can only be done this year since they are all in the last year of their contracts. IIRC, that's already around $16 million for Cam and Tyrann and I think could be around another $10 million for Hill.

Maybe this is for some sort of big trade, although I haven't heard that anyone that has a big salary is available, but I think it's more likely to try to get guy like Allen and Scherff on one year deals in the $8 to $10 million range which they likely won't take until at least June 1 if they are still on the market.

The less likely possibility is that they are clearing space to trade Carr, but it's for this year after June 1.

At the same point after missing on Ward and Cupp, they may have decided that they will just roll the money over to make the cap easier to deal with next year.

Good point on the pay cuts.

Dallas Goedert and Jaire Alexander would be a couple of names we could be after, but maybe not.

I just don’t see us giving up like this. It is all just odd behavior to me.

 

[St. Widge]

I think the last paragraph is the most likely and subscribe to Ross’s thinking. Having that much money helps w/ a rollover if you are planning to absorb the hit in 2026. It also helps with absorbing a 2025 hit if you trade him post June 1.

If Roux is right and the spending is minimal I see no reason for another high priced move that will cost money and draft capital to execute. It’s one thing to go after Cupp or the CB and it just cost you money, it’s another to be in the big time trade market if it cost you both.

Agreed, the one big money guy out there that we know is/was available for trade is Hendrickson and while I might pay him the money he wants, I would not want to give up the pick necessary (rumor is Bengals want a 1st) to get him along with the money for a 30 year-old player. Plus, the Bengals may give him a new deal instead of trading him.

 

[WilliamBrees]

The problem is Carr isn't acting like he wants to be here. In fact, I think one could put up a solid argument that his actions are stating he doesn't want to be here or plans to play somewhere else in 2025. Even bridge QB's tend to act like leaders and try to succeed for their following season potential destinations. Look at the spot Aaron Rodgers is in. No one wants him. He didn't act like a leader, he didn't put in the work for massive success. He just kind of seemed to go out last season and wing it, week in and week out. That's the vibe Carr is currently putting out. Rodgers was quite a bit more extreme, getting his HC fired. But still. If he started playing well and was successful after the HC was gone, he'd likely have suitors. But he doesn't.

Wow....maybe we need a reality check.