Tag: Cap Cuts

Bills cut former Saints All-Pro Deonte Harty, but don’t expect a reunion

The Bills released Deonte Harty, a former All-Pro returner with the Saints. But a reunion is ‘not currently in the works’ per NOF’s Nick Underhill:

Could the New Orleans Saints bring back Deonte Harty? Their former All-Pro returns specialist was a salary cap casualty with the Buffalo Bills earlier this week, and on Friday he shared on social media that he was visiting New Orleans, saying “Back like I never left.” Harty is an unrestricted free agent who will not count into the compensatory draft picks formula for 2025.

The Saints need to start adding wideouts at some point. With Chris Olave, A.T. Perry, and Rashid Shaheed under contract for 2024 while Michael Thomas heads out into free agency, they’ve filled just three of the 13 training camp roster spots they used last year on receivers. New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is going to want his own players and that many vacancies gives him an opportunity to rebuild the depth chart.

But a reunion with Harty is “not currently in the works,” per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. So maybe he was just in town visiting old friends. Shaheed has done everything Harty offered at a higher level both on offense and in the return game.

While there’s a chance the situation could change, don’t bet on it. The Saints have a plan for restocking the receiving corps and Harty might be an option if they can’t get other players they’re prioritizing more highly. If he’s still available this summer when they’re filling out the depth chart for training camp, maybe it makes sense to have him compete for a roster spot. At this time the Saints are looking for help elsewhere.

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How the Saints can make a last push to get under the salary cap

It won’t take much more for the #Saints to get under the NFL’s salary cap before free agency kicks off, via @RossJacksonNOLA:

As the clock ticks closer and closer to the NFL’s free agency negotiating period, the New Orleans Saints aren’t expected to make a big splash. Instead they are looking to follow their usual rhythm in working on in-house free agents that they could keep and trimming spending to get under the salary cap.

In-house free agents like defensive lineman David Onyemata, defensive end Marcus Davenport and linebacker Kaden Elliss would have some impact on the salary cap. In fact, retaining Onyemata and Davenport can be done in such a way to actually save funds against the overall spending of the team in 2023.

The Saints also have some outstanding negotiations with quarterback Jameis Winston and wideout Michael Thomas. With new quarterback Derek Carr in the building, the Saints reportedly offered Winston a re-worked deal that he has until Wednesday to decide upon. Thomas’ contract has a $30 million guarantee in 2024 that conveys on March 17, 2023 (Friday). Both of these are shoes that could drop soon and further effect their financial situation.

But, even in the NFL, some things can be simple. Per overthecap.com, the Saints are carrying about $26.9 million in overages, not including safety J.T. Gray’s new 3-year deal. It’s safe to estimate New Orleans is ten just about $30 million over and still has several quick options to reduce their salary cap ahead of Wednesday’s deadline. Here are four easy restructure options that would save the Saints over $30 million:

Jameis Winston listed as a Saints salary cap cuts candidate

Jameis Winston was listed as a salary cap cuts candidate at Pro Football Focus. He didn’t get a fair shake with the Saints, but a split feels inevitable:

It sure feels like the bridge between Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints is all but burnt, so it isn’t too surprising to see him listed as a possible salary cap cuts candidate. Things haven’t gone as planned when he re-signed with New Orleans a year ago, and with free agency on the horizon, it appears the team is going to go in another direction.

Here’s a take on Winston’s status with the Saints from Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger, who writes:

“Winston lost his job to Andy Dalton — which he was understandably not happy about — and the Saints hosted Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on a visit already as they look ahead to 2023. The writing is on the wall here for Winston, who had five interceptions and three fumbles (one lost) in just three starts in 2022.”

Winston didn’t get a fair shake with the Saints. He was allowed to play through a serious back injury and then asked to sit through an intercontinental flight, only to be benched for the rest of the season after clearing the injury report while Andy Dalton struggled to string scoring drives together in his stead. It falls on head coach Dennis Allen to manage situations like this better, and in this case he came up short.

And the team is going to pay for it by forfeiting as much as $11.2 million in dead money once Winston is released, though they’ll come out ahead with $4.4 million in savings. In an ideal world cutting Winston would not even be considered, but that’s not where we are. Between his erratic play and unfortunate series of recent injuries, the Saints are looking elsewhere to find a starting quarterback in 2023.

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Jameis Winston, Andrus Peat among potential Saints cap cuts in 2023 offseason

Jameis Winston and Andrus Peat are among the top potential Saints salary cap cut candidates during the 2023 offseason:

No team has more work to do in managing their salary cap commitments than the New Orleans Saints this offseason — depending on where you source your information, they’re in the red by margins of between $53 and $57 million. That means some talent is going to be leaving in the spring as the Saints look to cut costs, get younger, and frankly get more bang for their buck.

We’ve already listed the team’s biggest salary cap hits for 2023. Here are five areas where the Saints could free up some resources and look for upgrades:

4 NFL Draft replacements for potential Saints salary cap casualties

The New Orleans Saints face tough salary cap cuts, opening the door for cheap replacements through prospects picked in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The New Orleans Saints are headed for an offseason full of difficult decisions, and they’ll struggle to address all of their needs even if the 2020 salary cap reaches the high-end estimates of $200 million. Some players will restructure or renegotiate contracts — we previous discussed four big candidates — but others could get released outright.

If the Saints go that route, here are several potential replacements in the 2020 NFL Draft. We’ll be focused on prospects available in rounds two through four, because the Saints will probably be targeting a position of greater need with their first-round selection.

Potential loss: CB Janoris Jenkins

Salary cap savings: $11.25 million

Replacement: A.J. Terrell, Clemson

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Terrell hasn’t made a decision yet on whether he’ll declare, but he’s someone the Saints should keep an eye on even if “Jackrabbit” does stick around for 2020. Terrell is an accomplished man-cover corner who can run with anyone, even if Ja’Marr Chase won that matchup in Monday night’s national title game (and it’s not like Terrell was the first cornerback Chase beat this season). There isn’t a team in the NFL that has enough cornerbacks, and the Saints should be mindful of that with so many pending free agents at the position.

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