Tag: cap hit

Saints reach agreement with Tyrann Mathieu on a contract extension

The Saints reached an agreement with Tyrann Mathieu on a new contract, keeping him in New Orleans through 2025:

This is good news: The New Orleans Saints reached an agreement with veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu on a new contract, which will keep him on the team through 2025. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill first reported news of his Mathieu’s deal, adding that it will lower his salary cap hit in 2024 from $12,067,000 “to about $5.5 million.”

But this isn’t just a restructure. It’s an extension, which CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reports that his new deal is valued at $13 million. Mathieu was already under contract for 2024 but it was the last year of his deal, so he and the Saints agreed to add another year to it. He will now be a free agent in 2026 with the option to continue playing after his 33rd birthday or call it a career.

He’s been a good pickup for New Orleans. Mathieu has played 100% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2022 and 99% of them in 2023 while being credited with 7 interceptions, 17 passes deflected, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to go along with 166 combined tackles through two years. With Marcus Maye being released at the start of the new league year, Mathieu is going to have to take on even more of a leadership role in the Saints’ secondary. He’s done well in that role thus far, and can close out his career doing it for his hometown.

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Report: Saints plan to restructure their contract with guard Cesar Ruiz

ESPN reports the New Orleans Saints plan to restructure their contract with right guard Cesar Ruiz, saving another chunk of salary cap resources:

More moves are coming for the New Orleans Saints as they continue to work to reach salary cap compliance — ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that the Saints plan to restructure their contract with right guard Cesar Ruiz, having already done so with quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy.

Ruiz signed a deal last summer that was primed for restructure: his extension included a league-minimum base salary in 2024 along with an $8 million roster bonus. In order to restructure his contract, the Saints are going to  have to convert that roster bonus into a signing bonus and pay it out over the four years remaining on Ruiz’s contract, which will save $6,580,000 against the cap this year. It’s a smart move since the money was already promised, it’s just being paid out in a way that makes life easier for the team’s accountants.

According to estimates from the experts at Over The Cap, the Saints were in the red by about $53.7 million after restructuring their contracts with Carr and McCoy. Adding Ruiz to the list will drop them down to approximately $47.2 million. Still a ways to go before reaching salary cap compliance (with more needed to sign veteran free agents), but already nearly half where they started the offseason, without cutting a single player. This has been the plan all along. We’ll have to see if the changes to the coaching staff can make enough improvements to justify it.

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Saints kick off their annual restructures with Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy

The Saints kicked off their annual salary cap strategy by restructuring their contract with Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy:

The New Orleans Saints kicked off their annual salary cap strategy with Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy, agreeing to a contract restructure that guarantees McCoy his money while helping the team’s accountants.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Saints are saving $7.18 million by restructuring McCoy’s contract — which they’ve done by converting most of his base salary and a $500,000 roster bonus due in March into a new signing bonus, adding a void year to spread out the signing bonus proration. The end result: McCoy’s salary cap hit drops from $13.7 million to about $6.5 million for 2024. He’s under contract through 2027.

McCoy earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl Games in 2023 as an injury replacement, and he was the Saints’ steadiest offensive lineman during their recent tumultuous season. They’ll be counting on him to anchor the middle of the line from the pivot spot for the foreseeable future. With Derek Carr returning at quarterback and Klint Kubiak installing his offense, having McCoy at the point is going to be good for all involved.

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Bleacher Report suggests a laughable Alvin Kamara trade offer

Bleacher Report suggested a trade sending Alvin Kamara to the Ravens that’s, well, laughable. The Saints would be fools to accept this offer:

Oh, brother. Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay suggested a trade sending New Orleans Saints star running back Alvin Kamara to the Baltimore Ravens that’s, well, laughable. The Saints would be fools to accept this offer:

  • Baltimore gets: Alvin Kamara
  • New Orleans gets: 2024 seventh-round pick (No. 247 overall)

There’s an obvious problem here in the value being exchanged. Kamara may not be the same big-play threat he was earlier in his career, but the Saints are hoping he can turn things around with a new offensive coaching staff and system on top of another year working with Derek Carr, whose tendency to check down quickly after the snap led to a lot of targets going Kamara’s way. A seventh-round pick is ridiculous compensation for No. 41.

But let’s get to the other problem with Bleacher Report’s proposal. Saints fans are better acquainted with salary cap gymnastics than most, so see if you can spot the problem. Here’s what Kay had to say about this trade idea:

The 28-year-old back would be an an ideal buy-low candidate for the Ravens, who could try to capitalize on the Saints’ need to shed salary. The Saints project to be $82.8 million over next year’s cap, but they could save $11.8 million by trading Kamara after June 1.

While NFL teams are allowed to designate up to two releases as a post-June 1 cut each offseason for salary cap purposes, no rule exists for trades. The Saints would have to keep Kamara on their books with an $18.7 million cap hit through free agency in March and the 2024 NFL draft in April before trading Kamara in June to reap those cap benefits — meaning the Ravens would have already spent the seventh-round pick that Bleacher Report says Baltimore should trade to New Orleans, and the Saints would have had to get under the cap without touching Kamara’s contract.

If that’s a typo or some other oversight, then it means they see a 2025 seventh rounder as fair compensation for a five-time Pro Bowl running back, and that’s lubricious. The Saints are going to need to figure out something with Kamara’s contract this year. Whether that means another restructure, a reworking, a pay cut, or something else unknown, they can’t have him counting $18.7 million against the cap. But that doesn’t mean they should let another team take them to the cleaners and trade away a fan-favorite playmaker for so little in return.

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Trading for Haason Reddick is a risky option for fixing the Saints pass rush

Trading for Eagles Pro Bowler Haason Reddick is a risky option for fixing the New Orleans Saints pass rush, but it could bring big rewards:

It’s no secret that the New Orleans Saints must improve their pass rush. They were one of the worst teams last season getting after the quarterback, and it’s still a major area of concern going into 2024 despite having so many high draft picks invested along the defensive line. The unit has to play better, and adding more players to the mix might be the best path forward.

So here’s an interesting option: Haason Reddick, the Philadelphia Eagles’ sacks leader in each of the last two years. A two-time Pro Bowler, Reddick has taken the quarterback down 27 times over the last two seasons, tacking on 3.5 sacks in the playoffs last year. The 29-year-old has bagged double-digit sacks in each of the last four seasons.

But there are risks involved. Reddick is seeking an extension that the Eagles might not want to pay, which is why NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the team has given him permission to seek a trade. There’s a year left on his contract but no more guaranteed money. There are pros and cons to the Saints pursuing him.

It would be an expensive move. To start, any team trading for Reddick before June 1 would take on a $15.5 million salary cap hit ($1 million of which comes from a roster bonus due March 15). It’s possible a team could convince the Eagles to pay part of Reddick’s $14.25 million salary, reducing that cap hit, but it would require giving up better draft picks in a trade. The Saints did this in trading for Bradley Roby with the Houston Texans a few years ago and attempted it last season in discussing a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders for Hunter Renfrow.

Let’s say the Eagles reject that proposal, though. So the Saints trade for Reddick and then must figure out their next step. The likeliest move would be a restructure — reducing Reddick’s salary to the veteran minimum and paying the difference as a $14.25 million signing bonus, which would be paid out over five years for cap purposes. Reddick’s 2024 cap hit would fall at about $5.1 million, which is mighty affordable for a talented pass rusher.

The downside? Reddick’s contract expires in 2025, which means he would leave behind roughly $10.4 million in dead money if he leaves in free agency. And the whole reason he’s available is because he’s seeking a trade to a team that will sign him to an extension. It’s tough to see him approving a trade to New Orleans if the Saints are not interested in extending him either.

And let’s get to the other cost of this move — the trade. Beyond the fact that Eagles general manger Howie Roseman has gotten the better of his Saints counterpart Mickey Loomis so often and so badly that Loomis has publicly voiced concern about dealing with him, star pass rushers in their prime aren’t cheap. A good comparison for Reddick at this stage in his career is Khalil Mack, who was traded from the Chicago Bears to the Los Angeles Chargers a few years ago. Mack was a year older than Reddick is now with lesser production in the years leading up to the trade:

  • Khalil Mack 2019-2021: 23.5 sacks, 84 solo tackles (25 tackles for loss), 8 forced fumbles (4 recoveries) with an interception in 39 games (two Pro Bowls).
  • Haason Reddick 2021-2023: 38 sacks, 101 solo tackles (36 tackles for loss), 7 forced fumbles (4 recoveries) in 50 games (two Pro Bowls).

Mack was traded for a current-year second-round pick and a future sixth-round pick. Any deal for Reddick would have to outdo that. Another part of the equation is that Mack still had three years left on his contract when he was traded. Remember, Reddick is looking for a new deal.

While the Saints have a plan to reach salary cap compliance and open up room for new additions, it’s fair to ask whether Reddick makes sense for them. Considering their cap resources, the draft picks they would need to invest in him, and their defensive system, he might not be the best option. Head coach Dennis Allen’s preference for heavyset defensive ends would make the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Reddick an awkward fit. They did find success late last year allowing the 6-3, 225-pound Zack Baun to rush off the edge but only in a limited capacity. There’s a good chance Allen would try to fit a square peg into a round hole and ask Reddick to play in coverage as an off-ball linebacker, which is something he hasn’t enjoyed doing in Philadelphia.

We should expect the Saints to explore all their options in upgrading the pass rush off the edge. Cameron Jordan is past his prime. Young draft picks like Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey have not produced. Tanoh Kpassagnon is a good veteran to have in the rotation, but Carl Granderson is the only proven commodity in the group. Trading for someone like Reddick might make sense, but the Saints could also consider the free agent market and ultimately wait and see who is available in the draft. The only path that isn’t an option: running it back with things the way they stand now.

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As expected, Saints will likely restructure Derek Carr’s contract

As expected, the Saints will likely restructure Derek Carr’s contract and tie themselves to the QB through 2025:

This was the way the wind was blowing: the Times-Picayune’s Luke Johnson reports that the New Orleans Saints are likely restructuring their contract with Derek Carr this offseason, which will bring the team much-needed salary cap relief while tying themselves closer to the quarterback. His contract would effectively become guaranteed through 2025.

Carr currently has a salary cap hit at $35.7 million, highest on the team. A standard restructure would reduce his already-guaranteed base salary from $30 million to the veteran’s minimum and pay the difference out as a signing bonus, which is prorated over the next five years. That lowers his cap hit down to about $12.6 million in 2024, saving the Saints more than $23 million this year. This was the plan all along — committing to Carr with heavy guarantees through his first two years. That’s how they got him to sign here instead of with, say, the New York Jets or Carolina Panthers.

Now, New Orleans would still be in the red by more than $60 million after restructuring Carr. The Saints would still by higher over the cap by a higher figure than any other team; the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins both need to clear about $51 million to reach cap compliance. There’s a lot of work still to be done. This is just the first big step.

The downside to doing this? Carr’s cap charges in 2025 ($45.7 million) and 2026 ($55.7 million) go even higher, increasing by about $5.7 million in each season. Because this money was already guaranteed, just paid out differently for accounting purposes, it’s more difficult to get out of Carr’s contract later on. If he fails to improve with a new offensive coordinator in the fall then general manager Mickey Loomis will be left with an albatross around his neck. Releasing Carr before his contract expires would accelerate all of those $5.7 million signing bonus payouts into the current year rather than scratching them out over time.

It’s more complicated if you look further out. If Carr is on the roster by March 17, 2025 then his $30 million salary for that season will become fully-guaranteed, too. Let’s say the Saints do restructure Carr this offseason, which is what’s expected. That puts his 2025 cap hit at more than $51.4 million. They’ll have to make a decision next year on whether to cut him (to negligible salary cap benefit) or restructure him again. Knowing Loomis, the latter route is more likely.

Carr was always going to be in New Orleans for at least 2023 and 2024. Restructuring his contract now makes it highly likely he’ll be the quarterback again in 2025. His current deal runs out in 2027. Who knows what the team looks like at that point? Loomis and Dennis Allen could both be gone. But Carr, and all the money they chose to invest in him, will remain. Let’s hope he can carry his strong finish to the 2023 season — Carr led the league in touchdown passes through the final five weeks — over into the years ahead with a new offensive coordinator calling plays, making this big contract a little more palatable.

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Saints make a controversial QB pick in Daniel Jeremiah’s first 2024 mock draft

The Saints made a controversial pick in Daniel Jeremiah’s first 2024 mock draft, adding Oregon quarterback Bo Nix to replace Derek Carr:

There aren’t many more draft analysts who garner more respect than NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, a former pro scout who covers the annual draft in great detail each year. He’s hit the nail on the head with some New Orleans Saints picks in years past, so it’s important to pay attention and see what he’s projecting with the 2024 NFL draft just up ahead.

But this pick is a doozy. Jeremiah shared his first 2024 mock draft on Friday, and he has the Saints making a controversial selection with Oregon Ducks quarterback Bo Nix at No. 14. Here’s why Jeremiah says Nix should be a Saint:

I’m a big fan of Nix’s game. I think his experience as a five-year starter is a positive for him as he heads to the next level. He would be a plug-and-play starter in New Orleans. I’m not confident the Saints view Derek Carr as the answer.

Before transferring to Oregon for the 2022 season, Nix was a three-year starter at Auburn, where he didn’t exactly wow fans in the SEC. He threw 16 interceptions and fumbled 20 times in 34 games. But he flipped a switch after going to Oregon; Nix has turned the ball over just 13 times in 27 games with the Ducks while improving as a passer and making better use of his legs, taking just 6 sacks in each of the last two years and scoring 20 rushing touchdowns.

He’s dynamic and exciting to watch. But it’s going to be tough for Saints fans to overlook his early-career struggles and the questionable level of competition he’s faced out west. He wouldn’t exactly be stepping into a welcoming environment.

And none of that touches on the elephant in the room, which Jeremiah addressed by sharing, “I’m not confident the Saints view Derek Carr as the answer.” That could be Jeremiah’s own conjecture (and it runs against the public support Carr has received from Mickey Loomis and Dennis Allen), but it shouldn’t be ignored.

Carr’s contract makes him too expensive to keep as a backup, and the Saints have already tied themselves to him through 2024 by guaranteeing the second year of his salary when they signed him. If they restructure him this year, as is expected, he’ll be locked in through 2025 as well. It’s possible the Saints could keep Carr on his $35.7 million cap hit this year and then part ways in 2025, freeing up the starting job for Nix, but it would take some seriously crafty salary cap accounting to make it work. And asking a rookie quarterback who’s about to celebrate his 24th birthday to wait another year or two to start feels unlikely.

But you never know with this team. Maybe Nix is high on their radar, and maybe they’re higher on this quarterback class than they are in Carr’s long-term projection. All of these unknowns are what make the draft cycle so compelling.

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Marshon Lattimore’s unique contract restructure makes a trade more likely

Marshon Lattimore’s unique contract restructure makes a trade more likely, or at least easier on the salary cap:

Has Marshon Lattimore already played his last game as a member of the New Orleans Saints? When he’s healthy and locked in, Lattimore is the best player on the field, shutting down the league’s best receivers and making game-changing plays. But an unusual contract restructure has made a trade more likely this offseason, or at least more acceptable for the Saints’ accountants.

Thanks to good reporting from NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, we have a better understanding of this unique restructure. The majority of restructures that the Saints and other teams carry out are simple conversions of base salary to signing bonus, which makes it tougher to get out of those contracts.

In this case, Underhill reports, the Saints converted most of Lattimore’s salary to an option bonus that will be paid out a week before the 2024 season kicks off — and be paid by his new team, not New Orleans, in the event of a trade.

This restructure reduced his salary cap hit from $25.6 million to $14.6 million. If Lattimore is traded before June 1 (opening the door for compensation in 2024 draft picks), the Saints would have to pay more than $30.4 million in dead money while he’s playing for another team. If the draft pick compensation is strong enough it might make sense.

But if they wait until June 2, they would only pay $13.4 million in dead money in 2024 and roughly $20.8 million in 2025. That’s much easier to work with. The Saints carried a combined $21.7 million in dead money for David Onyemata, Marcus Davenport, and Malcolm Jenkins this year.

That’s still a lot of money, and it would mean the Saints are not getting any picks back in the 2024 draft (which is the main concern here). But if the Saints want to extend Paulson Adebo’s contract long-term and either ride with Isaac Yiadom or move Alontae Taylor back outside, there are enough positives — from the Saints’ point of view — to trading Lattimore. If Lattimore wants out, it’s a big positive for him, too.

So this doesn’t mean a trade is going to happen. Lattimore has not requested a trade and the Saints are not even allowed to talk with other teams about a trade until the offseason. And it takes two to tango. Lattimore is a rare talent but he’s got an injury history and it’s uncertain how much an acquiring team would be willing to spend to get him before even paying him themselves. But none of this happened accidentally. If Lattimore and the Saints are headed for a split, this is going to be the first real step.

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NFL’s depressed RB market sets uncertain future for Alvin Kamara

Did you know Alvin Kamara is the NFL’s second-highest paid running back? A depressed free agent market looks grim if he and the Saints split in a year or two:

Did you know Alvin Kamara is the NFL’s second-highest paid running back? The New Orleans Saints star is currently playing on a deal averaging $15 million per year. Only San Francisco 49ers dynamo Christian McCaffrey earns more, at more than $16 million. There’s a gulf developing between McCaffrey, Kamara, and their peers around the league, and it’s growing wider by the day.

The NFL running back market has depressed as teams invest more dollars in what they perceive as higher-priority positions, with mediocre quarterbacks and wide receivers carving out larger and larger slices of the pie as the league puts a premium on the passing game. Great running backs are seeing their wages suppressed while duds like 21-31-1 New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones ($40 million per year) and 57-yards-per-game Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson ($18.3 million) are overpaid. So are has-beens like Deshaun Watson ($46 million) and Odell Beckham Jr. ($15 million).

To be clear, we aren’t blaming those players for getting paid. Teams aren’t doing a good job of valuing the players who do the most to help their offenses. Good running backs take pressure off the quarterbacks and receivers and force the defense to stay honest and consider all venues of attack. The Steelers offense doesn’t work if Najee Harris isn’t powering them. Neither is the Giants offense without Saquon Barkley. It sure doesn’t help that Barkley was all talk and no action in his recent contract dispute, agreeing to return on the franchise tag in exchange for less than $1 million in incentives, all of which is tied to a postseason berth.

Accomplished runners like Dalvin Cook are still looking for an agreeable offer, while the 25-year-old rushing champ Josh Jacobs is embroiled in his own franchise tag dispute. So is Indianapolis Colts stud Jonathan Taylor. The players with the shortest careers and greatest exposure to injury aren’t being rewarded for their efforts, instead they’re being treated as disposable.

Back to Kamara. Right now, he is set to carry a salary cap hit north of $18.8 million into 2024 — with more than $7 million of it coming from his prorated signing bonus. He’ll have another $1 million roster bonus trigger on March 22, per Over The Cap, but the bulk of his payout comes from a $10.2 million base salary.

Moving Kamara before June 1, 2024 (either in a trade or release) saves the Saints just $1.6 million. Designating him a post-June 1 cut would bring $11.8 million in savings, but not until after that date. Waiting to trade him would do the same. But for the Saints to do that they’d still need to carry his $18.8 million cap hit on the books through free agency, the draft, and early-summer team practices.

So odds are that Kamara will agree to another restructure in 2024. That saves the team $8.1 million against the cap and guarantees him his roster spot. The big decision on his future with the team is still set for 2025, when his cap hit swells to a staggering $29 million (this restructure we’re proposing would put him over $30 million). At that point the Saints would need to choose whether to sign him to a new extension and create cap relief or cut bait altogether and save as much as $25 million in unguaranteed cash.

But none of this matters if Kamara doesn’t return to form. If he continues to decline they’ll move on from him without a second thought. Kamara peaked with 112.5 scrimmage yards per game in 2020 but that number has fallen in each of the subsequent years, to 102.8 in 2021 and just 92.5 in 2022. An upgrade at quarterback should help him become more of a threat on passing downs, and improved blocking will help him as a rusher, but at the end of the day Kamara needs to look more like his old self. The Saints drafted Kendre Miller this year as a long-term option in case Kamara isn’t on the team in a year or two. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but you never know. All that’s certain is that there are slim pickings on the open market for even star running backs. If all goes well, maybe Kamara can work something out with the Saints so he never has to experience it for himself.

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Saints salary cap impact of signing free agent tight end Foster Moreau

What’s the New Orleans Saints salary cap impact of signing free agent tight end Foster Moreau? His contract structure is awful clever:

What’s the New Orleans Saints salary cap impact of signing free agent tight end Foster Moreau? His contract structure is awful clever. ESPN’s Field Yates reports that Moreau’s 2023 base salary (set at $1.1 million, the veteran minimum) is guaranteed, as is his $3.5 million signing bonus. Because the Saints tacked on two automatically-voiding “ghost years” at the end of his three-year deal to further spread out the cap hits from that signing bonus, his 2023 cap hit is really just $1.8 million.

But wait, there’s more. Because the Saints already had 51 contracts on the books, signing Moreau pushed a smaller deal down beneath the threshold that counts against the cap right now, for a net cost of about $860,000. That’s a deal you make seven days of the week to get a starting-quality tight end. It leaves the Saints with more than $15 million in salary cap space, though signing their rookie draft class will push them down to about $12 million. That’s a lot of resources to work with.

Moreau’s contract has been reported to carry $8 million in total guarantees, so the remaining $3.4 million (not counting his signing bonus and 2023 salary) is probably tied up in his 2024 salary and a roster bonus which the Saints can convert into another signing bonus next offseason. It includes another non-guaranteed $3 million of incentives he can earn back through playtime and performance, which should be attainable once he’s fully recovered from treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year.

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