Tag: 2025 season

49ers All-Pro predicted to cut ties with San Francisco, join Saints

49ers All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga was predicted to cut ties with San Francisco and join the New Orleans Saints in 2025 free agency:

Never say never, but it could be tough for the New Orleans Saints to rationalize some big moves in 2025 free agency. Between needing a new head coach and the salary cap costs of past decisions, they might be better served sitting out another spending cycle to get their books in order.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t sign any new faces. And if they do go after a blue-chip player in free agency, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report has a great fit in mind. Knox argues San Francisco 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga could be just what the Saints defense has been missing:

The Saints—who tapped into the San Francisco pipeline with edge-rusher Chase Young and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak this offseason—could be very interested if Hufanga is available.

“The Saints could use some safety help and Tyrann Mathieu could be another cap casualty this offseason,” Holder wrote.

New Orleans, however, will have to free up a lot of cap space to pursue any marquee free agent. The Saints are projected to be $77 million over the 2025 cap.

The Colts should also be interested in adding a playmaker like Hufanga. Nick Cross has been a tackling machine in Indy this season but has too often been a liability in coverage. Hufanga’s ball skills and versatility would make him a great addition to the Colts’ secondary.

Injuries have limited Hufanga to a dozen games through 2023 and 2024, though he’s expected to return later this season. The 2022 All-Pro makes plays all over the field with 7 interceptions, 14 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and 2 sacks to go with 189 combined tackles (7 tackles for loss). But while he could be a viable replacement for Mathieu as a roving defender who can line up at any depth, he’s played his best football hanging back over the top of the defense. They could coexist.

Still, getting out from under tens of millions of dollars in negative salary cap space will be a challenge. The Saints will need to accomplish that before they can begin looking for help on the free agent market. But when you look at the players they have added recently like Chase Young, Khalen Saunders, and Willie Gay Jr., Hufanga fits the bill as an obviously talented playmaker with a bit of an injury history. Maybe he ends up in New Orleans after all.

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How trading Marshon Lattimore impacts the Saints salary cap

How does trading Marshon Lattimore impact the Saints salary cap? There’s little change this year, but they have to take their medicine in 2025:

The New Orleans Saints shifted gears and finally traded star cornerback Marshon Lattimore this week, just before the NFL trade deadline, sending thee playmaker to the Washington Commanders in exchange for multiple draft picks. But that isn’t the only cost of trading him. How did this move impact the Saints’ tense salary cap situation?

In brief, this will be felt for years. There isn’t much of a difference on 2024’s accounting since we’re in the middle of the season. Washington is paying the rest of Lattimore’s salary, saving the Saints about $605,000, but since he restructured his contract already they’re stuck with most of the dead money from those guarantees.

Let’s start with the bad news. The Saints are taking their medicine in 2025 with Lattimore counting against the cap by a whopping $31.6 million. Next year’s salary cap is projected to rise to about $273.3 million, but we won’t know the final number until the offseason. If it doesn’t move at all (it won’t), Lattimore’s dead money figure would take up 12.4% of this year’s cap, which was set at $255.4 million. If models are accurate, it’ll be almost 11.6% of the cap next year in 2025.

But the Saints shaved off more than $28 million from their 2026 salary cap spending. The cap is projected to reach as high as $292.4 million by then, which means their current cap commitments (about $237.9 million) are well beneath the spending limit. Inevitable restructures, free agent signings, and the next draft class will change that figure but so will any retirements and roster cuts this spring. We’re talking two years out so of course there’s going to be a lot of uncertainty.

This is a step in the right direction. The Saints didn’t get better by trading their best defender (if not their best player regardless of position), but their finances are going to improve. So is their ability to retain talent and sign upgrades in free agency. This is what a rebuild looks like. It isn’t pretty, and it won’t wrap up overnight. But the Saints tried the alternative — which blew up in their faces by hiring the wrong head coach and drafting the wrong players. So now they have to take the long, hard road back to success.

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Early extension saved Saints a ton of money against the 2025 salary cap

An early extension with Alvin Kamara saved the Saints a ton of money against the 2025 salary cap. Next year’s cap gymnastics just got easier:

Now that’s some crafty accounting, but we’ve come to expect it from the New Orleans Saints. Alvin Kamara reached an agreement on a two-year extension with the Saints this week, and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the move is saving the team some money when it comes to the 2025 salary cap. Kamara’s early extension opened up about $18 million in savings on next year’s spending limit.

So how did the Saints manage to pay Kamara more money while spending less against the cap? We’ll know more when further details are shared about his deal’s structure, but NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill shares that it includes a $15.5 million signing bonus and $22.23 million in guarantees.

Kamara was initially on the books for 2025 at a staggering cap hit north of $29 million, with $25 million of it non-guaranteed, which made him a possible salary cap casualty. Instead, the Saints guaranteed a big portion of it but spread it out as a signing bonus (likely with their signature automatically-voiding “ghost years” tacked on).

The end result? Kamara’s 2025 cap hit should now fall at around $11 million, which is very manageable. And the Saints should now have somewhere close to $324 million in cap liabilities. Depending on where you look the 2025 salary cap is projected to rise to as high as $273 million, though more conservative models put it at just $260 million. The Saints still need to clear  at least $64 million before they can turn to signing new players, but that’s a problem for another day.

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B/R shines a spotlight on Derek Carr’s contract in 2025

Bleacher Report calls Derek Carr’s contract the most important contract decision for the Saints next year, but their options are limited:

Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder took a look into the near future to take a look every team’s most important contract decision. The list primarily consists of 2025 free agents. That may feel like a decision for a year from now, but these decisions are often made ahead of time.

Players who enter the final year of their contract are ideal trade pieces. In the New Orleans Saints’ case, Derek Carr was the selection. He isn’t a 2025 free agent, but making a decision on his contract will impact the team-building strategy moving forward.

Unlike the other players mentioned, Carr isn’t an impending free agent, but his contract has an out that would save the Saints $30 million of cap space with a post-June 1 designation, per Over The Cap. That could be intriguing for a club that’s currently projected to begin the offseason over $90 million in the hole, especially if the team wants to rebuild.

Carr is a good choice, but this isn’t the right reason.

Finances are an annual talking-point around the team, and there’s no reason to see that ending. Carr’s cap hit is relevant to that topic because it’s salary cap-related. However, the decision on Carr will not be a salary cap decision.

The decision on what to do with Carr is purely performance based. If he’s a good fit in Klint Kubiak’s offensee, the Saints will keep him. He’s the starting quarterback. New Orleans isn’t getting rid of him before or after June 1 in the name of saving $30 million. His no-trade clause limits their options. And if they do want to move on with that post-June 1 cuts designation, they’ll have to find a way to get under the salary cap while carrying his $51.4 million cap hit on the books until June 2.

The decision to make is really does New Orleans want to be tied to him any more. Carr’s 2024 season will answer that question. It’s on him to earn more job security and put off talk about a potential rebuild (possibly surrounding Spencer Rattler) for another year.

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Saints could play a regular season game in Paris as soon as 2025

The Saints could play a regular season game in Paris as soon as 2025. The black and gold have held exclusive marketing rights in France since 2023:

New Orleans Saints fans supporting their team from overseas may have another opportunity to see the black and gold in person coming up soon. The Saints have held exclusive marketing rights in France since 2023, and plans are beginning to take shape that could have them kicking off a regular season from Paris in the near future.

Per WDSU sports director Fletcher Mackel, it could be in the works for as soon as 2025, though Mackel says “probably 2026” is more likely. NFL rules won’t force the Saints to give up a home game until 2030, but it’s possible the team could volunteer for this unique opportunity. Still, you’d like to see them keep all of their home games in New Orleans to show off the extensively remodeled Caesars Superdome.

So where could they be playing that game in France? Mackel points to the 81,000-seat Stade de France as an obvious fit, having recently hosted the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics, but there are a number of venues the NFL could choose.

The league office is scheduling more and more games to be played abroad as the NFL seeks to expand its international influence with several matchups this year kicking off from London, Munich, and São Paulo in Brazil. Another European game is planned for 2025 from Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, so it could make sense to schedule a Saints game across the board in France to go along with it. Stay tuned.

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NFL announces key dates for 2025 draft, start of free agency

The Saints will have some high-profile free agents in 2025 like Paulson Adebo and Rashid Shaheed. The NFL just announced when they could hit the market:

Yes, 2025 is still a long ways away — but it’s important to keep an eye on the future. That’s how the New Orleans Saints operate, and so does every other NFL team. The league office announced key dates for the 2025 offseason this week, highlighting the 2025 NFL draft and the start of free agency.

Here’s what we learned:

  • Feb. 18 to March 4: This is the window for teams to use the franchise tag (or the less-common transition tag).
  • March 12: This is the start of the new league year and free agency signing period.
  • April 24-26: The three-day 2025 NFL draft, which will be held in Green Bay.

We can infer some other things, like the real start of free agency being March 10. That’s when the legal tampering period opens, where teams court free agents and discuss contracts, but deals may only be agreed to, not signed. Every year a couple of players renege on those handshake agreements so nothing is guaranteed until pens go to paper a few days later.

Will the Saints use the franchise tag in 2025? Maybe. They’d like to avoid it given their complex salary cap situation, but they have several high-profile players headed for free agency after the 2024 season: Paulson Adebo, Pete Werner, Chase Young, Willie Gay, Juwan Johnson, Payton Turner, and Rashid Shaheed (who will be a restricted free agent, making him ineligible for the tag but easier to re-sign).

No one expected the Saints to use the franchise tag the last time they brought it out, at least not the summer before. It certainly wasn’t expected to be such a difficult decision between tagging Marcus Williams or Trey Hendrickson. Letting Hendrickson walk away in free agency (while tagging Williams only to fail to re-sign him later) has turned out to be one of Mickey Loomis’ biggest blunders, but going into his breakout season with the Saints he had just 6.5 sacks in three years. We’re in the same position now that we were then. Maybe one of those players we just listed performs so well in 2024 the Saints can’t afford to let them go in 2025.

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Alabama pitcher Riley Quick announces return for 2025 season

The Alabama baseball program will return a key pitcher for the 2025 season. Redshirt-freshman Riley Quick announced that he would be returning to Tuscaloosa next season.

The Alabama Crimson Tide baseball program received some positive news on Friday afternoon regarding the 2025 season. Right-handed pitcher Riley Quick announced that he would return to the Crimson Tide via social media.

Quick was an impactful arm for Alabama during the 2023 season. Quick finished with a 1-1 record and a 3.68 earned run average as a freshman. In 22 innings pitched, Quick struck out 26 batters. He also held opponents to a .244 batting average.

Quick was expected to be a key arm in Alabama’s starting rotation for the 2024 season. However, the Alabama native suffered a season-ending injury following his first career start against Manhattan. The injury required him to have Tommy John surgery.

Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn is optimistic about the future of the Alabama baseball program. Quick’s return could create even more intrigue in Tuscaloosa for the 2025 season and beyond.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama baseball program.

Saints plan on returning to New Orleans for their 2025 training camp

The Saints plan on returning to New Orleans for their 2025 training camp, with more amenities for fans attending practices in the works:

It’s safe to say the New Orleans Saints moving their 2024 training camp to California isn’t a very popular move. Taking one of the most accessible events for fans and sending it halfway across the country, where NFL rules may not even allow fans on the West Coast to attend practices, has drawn a lot of criticism.

Ongoing renovations to the team headquarters and the construction of a new cafeteria meant the Saints would be taking their training camp on the road this summer. But the plan is to be back for 2025 and beyond. Team president Dennis Lauscha addressed that during a Saturday press conference.

“No one wants to be back more, I can promise you, than Ms. Benson, Mickey (Loomis), myself,” Lauscha said. “We get it. We love having our fans there. It stinks when we don’t have our fans here. That’s kind of why we put off this construction as long as we did, to be perfectly honest with you. Because we were hoping there were perhaps a better way not to impact our training camp. But at some point you have to suck it up and you do it, and that’s where we are.”

Obviously there are lot of unknowns when you’re talking about things more than a year away. A severe weather event like a major hurricane could change the plans at the last minute. We just don’t know. We don’t even know if  Dennis Allen will be head coach or if Derek Carr will be the quarterback in 2025. But right now the plan is for the Saints to take training camp to California in 2024 before returning in 2025 with plenty of opportunities for fans to come out and support the team.

There are plans for more fan amenities in the works like permanent bleachers with shading and cooling areas to help manage the Louisiana summer heat and humidity. But that’s all part of the next phase after they complete renovations to the cafeteria and indoor practice facility, among other projects (with similar upgrades breaking ground next door at the New Orleans Pelicans’ base of operations). The Saints are making a ton of off-field investments to improve the fan experience. Hopefully their efforts on the field line up with it to give those fans something to cheer for.

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Saints announce 2025 Saints Legends Fan Cruise

The New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025:

Here’s a new one. On Monday, the New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025, which you can read more about here. The seven-night cruise on the Norwegian Getaway will tour the Western Caribbean with stops in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

What’s unique is that this gives diehard Saints fans the opportunity to interact with some of their favorite players at meet and greets, group dinners, panel discussions, and autograph sessions, among other events. Additionally, the first 50 cabin bookings will receive seats at the Suite or Club level for a 2024/2025 Saints home game.

Saints owner Gayle Benson announced the cruise in a statement from the team: “We are thrilled to join forces with Seaside Events for this exciting venture, offering Saints fans an exclusive opportunity to interact with our Legends in a vibrant and exclusive atmosphere, fostering memories that will endure for a lifetime.”

So who will be in attendance? Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson has already committed for the cruise, and so has fan favorites like Pat Swilling, Michael Lewis, Joe Horn, and Fred McAfee, and many other former Saints players. There aren’t many other events like this one, so be sure to check it out.

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Cowboys willfully living in No Man’s Land with Prescott makes little sense

The Cowboys continue to talk in circles about Prescott and what they’ll do with his contract this offseason. | From @BenGrimaldi

While the options have been laid out and nothing has changed in the last few months, the Dallas Cowboys continue to operate in no man’s land with their All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys don’t have a clear answer as to what they are going to do as the veteran careens towards 2025 free agency, but as the days pass it’s increasingly unlikely the team works out an extension with Prescott any time soon. The latest update from Jerry Jones doesn’t paint a pretty picture for those hoping for Prescott to stay in Dallas with an extension.

The options for Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones are simple:

  • Sign their franchise QB to an extension.
  • Attempt to trade him, which would need Prescott’s approval.
  • Let the 2024 season play out, allow Prescott to hit free agency in 2025, and then see what happens.

Despite the Cowboys’ brass saying they believe in Prescott numerous times over the past few years, and despite the QB saying he wants to stay in Dallas for the entirety of his career, there has been little movement on getting a new deal done.

The team claims they want him to stay and Prescott wants to remain with the Cowboys, so what’s so hard about getting a deal done? Make it make sense.

With the lack of quality quarterback play in the NFL, one would think the team wouldn’t want to gamble with their future and keep Prescott for years to come. That doesn’t appear to be the case. The Joneses continue to use the salary cap as an excuse, ignoring the fact an extension could open up space for this year’s cap and give the team some flexibility to add free agents.

Instead, Jerry Jones is asking Prescott to “win with less.” What sense does that make?

The Cowboys haven’t gotten over the hump with Prescott under center with the team employing the same free agency and team-building strategy since the QBs arrived apparently hasn’t entered his mind. How about helping the quarterback out.

Again, make it make sense.

Reading the tea leaves and it looks like the organization is preparing to move on from Prescott after this season, or at least allow him to test free agency next offseason. If that’s the case, and the Cowboys don’t want to pay Prescott now, it’s reasonable to assume they won’t want to pay him next year either.

If the organization doesn’t want to keep Prescott long-term, then they should explore trading him now, before the draft. The team could get maximum value from dealing him in April. Quarterback needy teams are willing to pay up for a good QB who is still in his prime and if Prescott OK’d the location, the Joneses could get their precious draft capital in return.

A trade would mean eating up Prescott’s dead cap money of over $66 million, but if the Cowboys are fine with getting his cap hit off the books after this season anyway, they should be willing to trade him if they can find the right deal.

The worst-case scenario is letting Prescott his free agency next offseason, where the Cowboys aren’t likely to match an offer. If the team isn’t willing to pay Prescott now, they aren’t going to like the price anymore next year when the cost goes up. It’s something the Joneses continuously fail to realize, the price on good players, especially quarterbacks, never goes down, it always goes up.

These are the same choices they’ve had since the team was blown out in the playoffs, yet nothing has happened. No major talks, no proposals on an extension, nothing. Just empty words about believing in a player they don’t feel the need to pay.

If they want to keep Prescott, they should be negotiating a new deal with him. Ditto for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. If they don’t want a future with their quarterback, move on and don’t wait for the 2026 third round compensation pick they’ll receive if he leaves in free agency.

Just do something. Make a decision, any decision, and stick to it. Anything is better than this dance they’re doing with their franchise player, where the Joneses talk in circles looking inept every time they speak.

In this offseason of misery, at least give the fans that, they deserve it. And so does Prescott.