There's no easy way out of this (13 Viewers)

[BoNcHiE]

If there was a year to bite the bullet, cut some guys, and get the cap under control, it was last offseason. 2025 is not looking good for doing anything but kicking the can. $81 million over the cap and there are very few obvious cuts.

Lattimore actually costs you money to trade. Cutting Kamara saves you $18 million, but Cam Jordan costs you $3 million to cut. Carr only saves you $1.5 million to cut. Ramcyzck gets you $6 million (so that's a no-brainer). You save about $4 million total by cutting J.T. Gray and Khaulen Sanders.

In the end, we are stuck having to restructure a bunch of contracts of older players just to get under the cap, and that means we can't even really do a full rebuild like we need to. There will still be a lot of veteran players on this squad, some not really producing anything.

Can we get under the cap? Sure, but it's going to take until 2028 to really get this cap situation right, and that's assuming we even try.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us overpaying for old players who may or may not start while having to rely heavily on draft picks. If we don't knock it out of the park in the 2025 draft, we are going to be in the dumps for a while. We HAVE to start getting more draft picks now to even make it a possibility. Everyone should be in consideration to be traded before the deadline.

The big question is what coach is going to be willing to come here to take this project on.

 

[whodatbe]

Underhill was saying the same thing this morning about the cap. When it comes to about the next head coach, they definitely gotta find someone who can coach/ put players in the right position to succeed. We are not gonna have good depth until we have better drafting and cap space.

 

[killerdescore]

Trades and picks are useless as long as Loomis is still there to waste them

 

[LubDemSaints]

If there was a year to bite the bullet, cut some guys, and get the cap under control, it was last offseason. 2025 is not looking good for doing anything but kicking the can. $81 million over the cap and there are very few obvious cuts.

Lattimore actually costs you money to trade. Cutting Kamara saves you $18 million, but Cam Jordan costs you $3 million to cut. Carr only saves you $1.5 million to cut. Ramcyzck gets you $6 million (so that's a no-brainer). You save about $4 million total by cutting J.T. Gray and Khaulen Sanders.

In the end, we are stuck having to restructure a bunch of contracts of older players just to get under the cap, and that means we can't even really do a full rebuild like we need to. There will still be a lot of veteran players on this squad, some not really producing anything.

Can we get under the cap? Sure, but it's going to take until 2028 to really get this cap situation right, and that's assuming we even try.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us overpaying for old players who may or may not start while having to rely heavily on draft picks. If we don't knock it out of the park in the 2025 draft, we are going to be in the dumps for a while. We HAVE to start getting more draft picks now to even make it a possibility. Everyone should be in consideration to be traded before the deadline.

The big question is what coach is going to be willing to come here to take this project on.

Love your post. While most of us (me included) want a full clean house/fire sale, that all sounds good until you actually look at the numbers. It truly is eye-opening and very sad to see the shape of this organization.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Underhill was saying the same thing this morning about the cap. When it comes to about the next head coach, they definitely gotta find someone who can coach/ put players in the right position to succeed. We are not gonna have good depth until we have better drafting and cap space.

Y’all must be trippin’ as many here have told us the cap doesn’t matter and we’re rubes for believing it does.

Trades and picks are useless as long as Loomis is still there to waste them

.

Love your post. While most of us (me included) want a full clean house/fire sale, that all sounds good until you actually look at the numbers. It truly is eye-opening and very sad to see the shape of this organization.

Team needs new all the way from the top down. It’s time.

 

[longtime lurker]

Our next HC (hopefully an offensive minded coach) is going to need time to ride this out over the next few years….so his leash should be pretty long.

Focus on rebuilding the lines this draft and off season and then looking for our franchise QB in the ‘26 draft.

It’s not going to be pretty, but at least a plan like that gives us all some much needed hope.

 

[BayouSAINTJoe]

If there was a year to bite the bullet, cut some guys, and get the cap under control, it was last offseason. 2025 is not looking good for doing anything but kicking the can. $81 million over the cap and there are very few obvious cuts.

Lattimore actually costs you money to trade. Cutting Kamara saves you $18 million, but Cam Jordan costs you $3 million to cut. Carr only saves you $1.5 million to cut. Ramcyzck gets you $6 million (so that's a no-brainer). You save about $4 million total by cutting J.T. Gray and Khaulen Sanders.

In the end, we are stuck having to restructure a bunch of contracts of older players just to get under the cap, and that means we can't even really do a full rebuild like we need to. There will still be a lot of veteran players on this squad, some not really producing anything.

Can we get under the cap? Sure, but it's going to take until 2028 to really get this cap situation right, and that's assuming we even try.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us overpaying for old players who may or may not start while having to rely heavily on draft picks. If we don't knock it out of the park in the 2025 draft, we are going to be in the dumps for a while. We HAVE to start getting more draft picks now to even make it a possibility. Everyone should be in consideration to be traded before the deadline.

The big question is what coach is going to be willing to come here to take this project on.

Nobody...you make DA coach the corpse of this team until the books come clean.

Hopefully fan enthusiasm doesn't fall off the face of the earth to the point where they move the team

 

[St. Geezy]

If there was a year to bite the bullet, cut some guys, and get the cap under control, it was last offseason. 2025 is not looking good for doing anything but kicking the can. $81 million over the cap and there are very few obvious cuts.

Lattimore actually costs you money to trade. Cutting Kamara saves you $18 million, but Cam Jordan costs you $3 million to cut. Carr only saves you $1.5 million to cut. Ramcyzck gets you $6 million (so that's a no-brainer). You save about $4 million total by cutting J.T. Gray and Khaulen Sanders.

In the end, we are stuck having to restructure a bunch of contracts of older players just to get under the cap, and that means we can't even really do a full rebuild like we need to. There will still be a lot of veteran players on this squad, some not really producing anything.

Can we get under the cap? Sure, but it's going to take until 2028 to really get this cap situation right, and that's assuming we even try.

So where does that leave us? It leaves us overpaying for old players who may or may not start while having to rely heavily on draft picks. If we don't knock it out of the park in the 2025 draft, we are going to be in the dumps for a while. We HAVE to start getting more draft picks now to even make it a possibility. Everyone should be in consideration to be traded before the deadline.

The big question is what coach is going to be willing to come here to take this project on.

I keep hearing the line repeated about us being stuck with a bunch of older players we’d have to restructure, but could you tell me, aside from Cam Jordan, who are the players you think the team would like to cut but can’t?

I don’t think we’d be looking to move on from Carr, Demario, or Tyrann even in a perfect world, so who are these guys that we are stuck with?

It’s almost as if the theme of the board lately is a fan-wish to see us tear it down and getting frustrated that we aren’t in position to, but I don’t necessarily think the team desires to tear it all down in the fashion people describe, and they are stressing themselves out because they’re are frustrated about not being able to do it.

Maybe I’m wrong though.

I’d also add that we aren’t the only team stuck with contracts it doesn’t want.

And sure, yes, we are $81m over for 2025 (which can be wiped out with like 5 or so moves, but look at the space available to pull from the 1-3 years after that. If we need money for a big name free agent or two, we can create it as always. It’s not like we were ever huge free agency spenders anyway.

I’m just not seeing the cause for concern I am hearing other than there being a desire from some to see us cut everyone, but the reality is, the team isn’t trying to cut everyone.

Don’t mean to sound condescending if I do; I am just genuinely wondering who all are you guys trying to get rid of or think the team is trying to get rid of.

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Nobody...you make DA coach the corpse of this team until the books come clean.

Hopefully fan enthusiasm doesn't fall off the face of the earth to the point where they move the team

I agree with this.

Also, don’t want to start a new thread….watching MI and folks on Gameday show….they had a segment on the Indiana coach….I’d never heard of him, his “I win, google me.” quote was awesome.

Urban Meyer then said something very poignant to me which made me think of DA:
“Players want to play for confident coaches.” “Coaches who aren’t confident create players who aren’t confident.”

I wanted DA to prove me wrong and finally have some success as a head coach, sadly it hasn’t happened. This team is an on field reflection of DA imo. Lifeless, apathetic, no accountability, zero fire. DA is quite literally a living glass of luke warm milk.

Time for a change. (After the books are close to clean) Take Mickey with ya on the way out.

 

[meily]

Underhill was saying the same thing this morning about the cap. When it comes to about the next head coach, they definitely gotta find someone who can coach/ put players in the right position to succeed. We are not gonna have good depth until we have better drafting and cap space.

We have to get the players in the building no matter who the coach is

As much as people want to believe this is a DA issue, he's really just the scapegoat because no coach can win with the injuries this team has experienced and we are already in the process of a soft rebuild.

 

[St. Geezy]

I agree with this.

Also, don’t want to start a new thread….watching MI and folks on Gameday show….they had a segment on the Indiana coach….I’d never heard of him, his “I win, google me.” quote was awesome.

Urban Meyer then said something very poignant to me which made me think of DA:
“Players want to play for confident coaches.” “Coaches who aren’t confident create players who aren’t confident.”

I wanted DA to prove me wrong and finally have some success as a head coach, sadly it hasn’t happened. This team is an on field reflection of DA imo. Lifeless, apathetic, no accountability, zero fire. DA is quite literally a living glass of luke warm milk.

Time for a change. (After the books are close to clean) Take Mickey with ya on the way out.

The first time I saw footage of DA nervously stuttering and saying “um” repeatedly in front of the group, barely making coherent sense and speaking in cliches, I knew we were in for an odd ride.

 

[Ti Rider]

Great post.

What should happen -

Total housecleaning/ground up rebuild - top to bottom. Loomis is “promoted” to some figurehead position. Something like “Grand Poohbah Supreme Executor of Benson Family Sports Entertainment” where he plays golf all day and has nothing to do with Saints operations. The new, much younger GM will be in total control of getting the salary cap under control, hiring the new staff, rebuilding the roster. It’ll be a rough few years but the team will come out stronger and more competitive.

What will most likely happen -

Loomis will put lipstick on the pig he created. He’ll continue to restructure/kick the can. He may keep DA one more year depending on how well they can sell the injury excuse and how the team finishes the season. If the team continues on its current trajectory he’ll more than likely hire a desperate HC retread or second level coordinator candidate (no top level umm, see Ben Johnson, is going to pick the Saints situation over the many HC jobs this next offseason). They’ll hype up the new Staff but they’ll be hamstrung by same cap/roster issues that have killed Dennis Allen’s HC career. This will postpone the total rebuild and may eventually force the team out of New Orleans.

 

[Brandon13]

Underhill was saying the same thing this morning about the cap. When it comes to about the next head coach, they definitely gotta find someone who can coach/ put players in the right position to succeed. We are not gonna have good depth until we have better drafting and cap space.

Literally said "we're screwed" lol.

 

[St. Widge]

We have to get the players in the building no matter who the coach is

As much as people want to believe this is a DA issue, he's really just the scapegoat because no coach can win with the injuries this team has experienced and we are already in the process of a soft rebuild.

I agree that we need to get better talent and that means drafting better. I also agree that the reason this year is so bad is injuries. I also agree that we are in a soft reset and that the cap should not be an issue after next year.

And while DA might not be as bad of a coach as the record this year looks, he's still never going to be a good NFL head coach. We've watch him try for three years and it clearly isn't working and isn't going to get better.

I'll add that this whole won't be able to get a good coach thing is nonsense. There are only 32 NFL HC jobs and usually only 5 or 6 available each year and every one of them will have issues that make them less attractive than some and advantages that make them more attractive than some. It all comes down to fit and what things are important to each individual coach and none of us know the answer to that. Maybe they can't get their first choice or even second choice, but they will be able to find a good coach. Payton wasn't the first choice but it worked out well.

The bigger issue to me is in the scouting department. We need guys to do a better job scouting in the draft. Loomis should stop trading up and giving away picks. He mostly did that last year, but he need to continue with that and find a way to get more picks. But what it comes down too is that Ireland and his staff haven't been good enough since 2017 and a lot of 2017 was that they had 6 picks in the top 100.

 

[Ghost]

Y’all must be trippin’ as many here have told us the cap doesn’t matter and we’re rubes for believing it does.

.

Team needs new all the way from the top down. It’s time.

To me as a non-Saints fan I'm fascinated that there are Saints fans here who (paraphrasing) "The Saint's cap management isn't an issue because the cap always goes up."

When in reality it actually there are multiple issues with that.
- Aging roster.
- Lack of depth.
- Roster issues when drafting fails.
- Contracts that are difficult jettison.

And to cap it all off, if this were some sort of "cap manipulation hack" then why don't all other 31 teams do it if it were so advantageous?