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Good news, everyone! It’s very early and there’s a lot of work to be done before anything is written in permanent ink, but for now, the New Orleans Saints are already under next year’s salary cap.
Well, not exactly. The NFL announced this week that it has agreed to set a $208.2 million salary cap ceiling for the 2022 season — a number that will only be realized if the league makes serious revenue gains in 2021, which is possible with stadiums expecting to return to full capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic delivered a hit to league ownership’s pocketbooks in 2020. Still, a $25.7 million jump in the salary cap from the 2020 figure ($182.5 million) feels optimistic.
But that’s as high as the cap could go, with any additional revenue put towards player benefits, which was negotiated by the NFLPA. While a salary cap floor has not been set (as was the case last year), we’re expecting some growth, but there isn’t much agreement on just how far the NFL will be able to get back on track after an unprecedented down year. League finances still aren’t where they were expected to be before the pandemic.
Let’s circle back to New Orleans. The Saints are projected by Over The Cap’s analysts to have about $207.6 million against the cap for 2022, which does mean they’re cap compliant (by roughly $600,000; right now, they’re estimate to be nearly $300,000 beneath the 2021 cap), but it’s more complicated than that. They only have 39 players under contract right now, and officially signing their rookie class just gets them halfway towards their 90-man roster limit.
And their upcoming free agent crop includes highly-valued starters in franchise tagged safety Marcus Williams, All-Pro left tackle Terron Armstead, former first round picks Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk, as well as quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill; not to mention contributors like Tre’Quan Smith, P.J. Williams, Shy Tuttle, Carl Granderson, and Deonte Harris (luckily, Tuttle, Granderson, and Harris are each restricted free agents).
Plus, let’s remember that the actual salary cap could arrive beneath than that $207.6 million limit. If everything goes well, the Saints will start off already beneath the cap for once, avoiding another wave of cap cuts and roster erosion. And NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill identified several easy contract tweaks the Saints could make to free up $20 million in cap space without losing anyone.
With the salary cap expected to go to the moon in 2023 once new broadcasting rights deals and sports gambling agreements come into effect, there’s a very real light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, the Saints will have to cut every coupon and flip over their couch cushions to stretch their dollars.
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