By Kyle T. Mosley | SI
The New Orleans Saints have a dilemma. The 2017 Draft Class. It's full of talented players and key contributors; but, can they afford to pay them after 2021?
The remaining Saints 2017 draft class members of CB Marshon Lattimore, T Ryan Ramczyk, S Marcus Williams, RB Alvin Kamara, LB Alex Anzalone, and DE Trey Hendrickson have defined roles on the team. Both first-round picks, Lattimore and Ramczyk, will become unrestricted free agents in 2022. If Kamara demands a new contract extension this season, it could have a negative ripple effect within the New Orleans Saints organization in terms of future cap space. New Orleans has been creative with the current cap space ($3,518,011) and signed QB Drew Brees, WR Emmanuel Sanders, G Andrus Peat, S Malcolm Jenkins, and several other unrestricted free-agents in the offseason.
There will be contract challenges and cap situations for the team in 2021 and 2022 with the current personnel. Signing Kamara, Lattimore, and Ramczyk will be complicated, and still need to consider Williams, Anzalone, and Hendrickson. If the Saints can re-sign Alvin Kamara to a contract extension, this will be classified as one of the shrewdest accounting maneuvers of the Mickey Loomis era.
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