Tag: cap hit

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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B/R makes the case for (and against) Saints trading for Chargers RB Austin Ekeler

Bleacher Report made the case for (and against) the New Orleans Saints trading for embattled Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. So what’s the verdict?

Hey, here’s an interesting proposal: what if the New Orleans Saints traded for Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler? Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton made the case for such a move as well as the argument against it in light of Ekeler’s trade request, with the Chargers reportedly granting him permission to talk shop with other teams. So what’s the verdict? Is he someone the Saints should check in on?

“Kamara and Ekeler have nearly identical skill sets,” Moton wrote, arguing in favor of a teamup. “With Jamaal Williams in the fold on early-down and goal-line touches and Ekeler featured on passing downs, the Saints offense wouldn’t skip a beat if Kamara has to miss significant time.”

Kamara will go on trial in front of a Las Vegas jury on July 31 following last year’s brawl near a nightclub, in which he has been charged with conspiracy to commit battery and battery resulting in substantial bodily harm. Kamara submitted a non-guilty plea on those charges but the NFL could suspend him for six weeks or longer once the legal process has concluded, regardless of the case’s result.

Ekeler, who turns 28 in May, is coming off of back-to-back career years with the Chargers. He’s ran for 911 and 915 yards (with 12 and 13 touchdown runs) the last two seasons, also catching 70 and 107 passes for 647 and 722 receiving yards (with 8 and 5 touchdown receptions), respectively. He’s led the league in touchdowns scored from scrimmage (20 and 18) in each of the last two years. He’s a very unique athlete at a listed 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, though he weighed in at 5-foot-8.5 and 199 pounds coming out of Western Colorado back in 2017.

However, Moton’s argument against the Saints making a bold move to trade for Ekeler lays out why it’s unlikely to happen. After signing Williams to a $12 million extension and with Kamara playing on his own big-money deal, it might not make sense to roster so many expensive veterans in an offense building around a new signal-caller: “Unless the Saints plan to take the ball out of quarterback Derek Carr’s hands for most of the games, they wouldn’t have enough touches available to support three costly running backs with Kamara active.”

But hey, it would be fun. Ekeler is one of the most exciting running backs in the NFL and he’s outplayed the four-year, $24.5 million deal he signed in 2020. He’s rightfully seeking for a pay raise while scheduled to play on a $6.25 million base salary in the last year of that contract, and if the Chargers were smarter they’d hurry to extend him before moving on Justin Herbert’s landmark extension in the next year or two. That organization is kind of a mess, though, and this is an opportunity for the Saints to take advantage of one of the NFL’s more-notorious clownshows.

So, yeah — the Saints should test the waters and see about trading for Ekeler. In the right circumstances, though. Having him and Williams signed long-term would give them an easier out from Kamara’s contract when his salary cap hit balloons to $18.8 million in 2024 (with a higher raise to $29 million in 2025). Both players are versatile and bring ample pro experience in the prime of their careers. If the Saints can’t find a more-affordable option in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft, Ekeler would make a lot of sense. The Saints are under the cap by a comfortable $14.6 million, not accounting for their modest $3.2 million rookie pool, and they could easily fit Ekeler on the books before hammering out a new deal.

Here’s the “but.” But as Saints salary cap specialist Khai Harley has often reminded us, just because the team can do something doesn’t mean they necessarily should. Trading a draft pick or two for Ekeler and then inking him to a pricey extension when they could select a young player on a cheap four-year deal wouldn’t be the most efficient use of resources, and if we’re guessing, this is a situation the Saints will stay away from because of the costs involved. But man, it sure would be fun, wouldn’t it?

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Andrus Peat’s contract is the last in-house hurdle for the Saints salary cap

Andrus Peat’s contract is the last in-house hurdle for the Saints salary cap. New Orleans is already under the cap, but a move here helps them a lot:

It was always going to come to this. Andrus Peat’s contract with the New Orleans Saints is their last in-house salary cap hurdle, which is kind of poetic given how frustrating that deal has been over the years. Few Saints starters have missed as many games with injuries as Peat while turning in up-and-down game tape and ranking among the team’s top earners. Of course this is their final challenge to deal with.

Right now, Peat has the highest salary cap hit on the team for the 2023 season at $18,371,000. The Saints have two options in front of them: restructuring Peat’s hefty $11.8 million base salary into a new signing bonus and committing to him for another year or two, or releasing him (a trade is possible, but unlikely, given his injury history and the contract value). A restructure would save more than $7.9 million for 2023, so that’s the likeliest outcome.

If the Saints release Peat outright, they’ll save just $1.3 million against the 2023 salary cap while being on the hook for a staggering $16.9 million in dead money. So that isn’t a realistic option.

If they were to release him with a post-June 1 designation, Peat would become a free agent and have the ability to sign with a new team right away, but the Saints would still keep him on the books at that $18.3 million figure until June. They would have to wait until free agency is over and the draft is behind them to get any savings, but they would eventually get $11.8 million back.

The Saints are already under the salary cap; we’re still waiting to see new cap hits for Jameis Winston and Michael Thomas to know by how much, but New Orleans should be in the clear by several million dollars. Something has to give with Peat’s contract before they can shift focus to the free agent market. If the team plays its cards right, they can quickly become big spenders.

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Marshon Lattimore agrees to restructured contract, Saints reach salary cap compliance

NOF’s Nick Underhill reports that Marshon Lattimore agreed to a restructured contract. The Saints should now finally be beneath the salary cap:

Ring the bell: the New Orleans Saints should now be compliant with the 2023 salary cap. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reports that cornerback Marshon Lattimore agreed on a contract restructure which should free up as much as $10,065,000 by converting most of his $14.5 million base salary into a new signing bonus and spreading it out over future years.

Take that with the other two restructures the team completed on Monday — with defensive end Cameron Jordan and running back Alvin Kamara — and the Saints should be in the clear. Now they don’t have to worry about just being cap-compliant. The work instead is focused on opening up resources to add new players. But the most difficult challenges are still ahead.

What to do with quarterback Jameis Winston? Will he accept a pay cut or be released? What about oft-injured left guard Andrus Peat, who could be let go or agree to another restructure? Wide receiver Michael Thomas is actively negotiating a new deal with the team, but the clock is ticking on him. Left tackle James Hurst could also restructure and free up a modest $3.2 million. The Saints might be under the salary cap now, but their work is far from over.

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Look: Derek Carr puts pen to paper on his new Saints contract

Look: Derek Carr puts pen to paper on his new Saints contract ahead of introductory press conference, via @DillySanders:

Former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr made it official with his new team, the New Orleans Saints, as he signed his contract before holding his introductory press conference with local media on Saturday with his wife and children in attendance, as well as Saints brass like head coach Dennis Allen, general manager Mickey Loomis, and team owner Gayle Benson.

As a bonus, we got a rare glimpse of the man behind the Saints’ salary cap magic. Football administration vice president Khai Harley is the league’s best-kept-secret, and he worked his magic yet again with Carr’s contract, getting his initial cap hit down just $7.2 million in the first season. It’ll go up to $35.7 million next season, but this allows the Saints to make more moves with the immediate future in mind.

Carr’s contract, worth a maximum of $150 million over four years, has him ranked as the 10th-highest-paid player in the league. Everyone else above him is also a quarterback, which includes Daniel Jones who just signed a new deal with the New York Giants. The Saints have a potential out in the contract after the second year, but hopefully Carr plays well enough to where that isn’t a consideration.

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Post-Brady, the Bucs are doing what everyone’s asked the Saints to do

Post-Tom Brady, the Buccaneers are doing what everyone has said the Saints should have done post-Drew Brees. We’ll see how torching and tanking works out for them:

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a situation similar to the New Orleans Saints’, but they’re going about things with an entirely different strategy. Instead of creatively moving money around to remain competitive and try to win football games, the Buccaneers are slashing and burning their way through their roster. The post-Tom Brady landscape is going to look much more barren in Tampa Bay than the post-Drew Brees picture has been in New Orleans.

It’s what everyone from talking heads on ESPN to analytically minded nerds on podcasts have said the Saints should have done once Brees hung it up. Tampa Bay has cut longtime starting left tackle Donovan Smith as well as veteran tight end Cameron Brate and fan-favorite running back Leonard Fournette as they look to reach salary cap compliance. More departures are coming.

Most important is how they’ve handled their contract with Brady. When Brees retired with the Saints, he was processed as a post-June 1 cut to spread out the remaining salary cap charges between the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, costing the Saints a little over $11 million in each season.

That isn’t what the Buccaneers are doing with Brady. He’s still on their books with a $35 million cap hit while the team sits in the red by more than $49 million. And they have shown little inclination for stretching that out into 2024. If the Buccaneers wanted to, they could process Brady’s retirement as a post-June 1 release just like New Orleans did, which would cost them about $10.7 million in dead money for 2023 and put the remaining $24.3 million on the books for 2024. Instead of doing that, though, they’re taking their medicine right away in hopes of a healthier salary cap outlook this time next year.

We’ll see how torching the roster and tanking the season works out for them. Former second-round draft pick Kyle Trask is the only Buccaneers quarterback under contract for 2023, though it wouldn’t be a shock if they sign a mediocre free agent like Drew Lock, Baker Mayfield or Gardner Minshew to compete with him for the starting job. If the end result is Tampa Bay clinching a top-five draft pick in 2024 and giving fans hope for the future with a top quarterback prospect in their sights, team management will be left feeling happy with themselves. It’s a strategy that worked out so well with their former No. 1 pick Jameis Winston, after all.

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Derek Carr’s Saints contract includes $100 million in total guarantees

Derek Carr’s Saints contract includes $100 million in guarantees and averages $37.5 million per year, but creative structure could get his salary cap hit under $7 million in 2023:

We’re waiting on all of the details and salary cap hits, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shared some much-needed specifics on the New Orleans Saints’ contract with free agent quarterback Derek Carr. Carr agreed to sign with the Saints in exchange for a four-year deal valued at $150 million, which averages a payout of $37.5 million per year.

More importantly than that, though, are the contract guarantees and structure. Carr will receive $100 million in total guarantees between guaranteed salary, signing bonus, and future roster bonuses (which can be restructured to open up more salary cap resources). Rapoport adds that $70 million is fully guaranteed once Carr puts pen to paper with another $10 million guaranteed in 2025, the third year of this deal.

Additionally, and this is what fans actually need to concern themselves with: both Rapoport and NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett and Nick Underhill report that the first-year salary cap hit will be substantially lower. We’re guessing here, but Carr will probably get a minimum base salary of $1.165 million for 2023 plus a signing bonus of about $30 million. Spread that out over five years with an automatically-voiding year written in for 2027 (keeping this at a four-year deal) and you’ve got a current-year salary cap hit of just $7.165 million for Carr’s services. But we’re speculating on that, so stay tuned for official word on what he’ll be costing the Saints this season.

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Report: Tanoh Kpassagnon’s 2-year contract extension valued at $6 million

Report: Tanoh Kpassagnon’s two-year contract extension with the New Orleans Saints is valued at $6 million, avoiding a trip in free agency:

There’s those numbers everyone is looking for. KPRC2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson first reported the numbers on Tanoh Kpassagnon’s contract extension with the New Orleans Saints, sharing that the big defensive end inked a two-year deal valued at a maximum of $6 million.

This is a good value for the Saints, though we don’t know the exact salary cap hit for retaining Kpassagnon. He was set to count about $1.5 million against the cap due to a past restructure with automatically-voiding years rewritten into his contract, so at least there isn’t much going to waste here. Some dead money will probably be owed one day once Kpassagnon is no longer on the roster, but for now the Saints get to max out their resources and he gets some security. Good for him.

Kpassagnon has been a regular part of New Orleans’ defensive line rotation the last two years, playing 220 snaps across 8 games in 2021 and 356 snaps in 15 games during the 2022 season. He’s been officially credited with 6 sacks and 14 quarterback hits on those opportunities in addition to 46 tackles (27 solo, 6 tackles for loss) and a forced fumble, plus a couple o fpass deflections. He’s a good player to keep in the mix, and he may be in line for a bigger role if the Saints don’t re-sign Marcus Davenport this offseason.

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