Tag: Deadline

Saints opened up more salary cap space by releasing Tre’Quan Smith

The Saints opened up more salary cap space by releasing Tre’Quan Smith. It’s not much, but they’ve got some more wiggle room ahead of the trade deadline:

Tre’Quan Smith was released by the New Orleans Saints this week and immediately booked a flight to visit Sean Payton’s Denver Broncos, but what does his departure mean for the team’s salary cap outlook? The Saints were under the spending limit by about $2.67 million prior to releasing Smith from injured reserve.

Now, the experts at Over The Cap estimate the Saints are under the cap by $4.1 million. That isn’t much (it currently ranks eighth-lowest around the league), but it does give them a little wiggle room ahead of the Oct. 31 trade deadline.

They wouldn’t be able to take on the full salary for some players — like, say, Las Vegas Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow at about $5.05 million right now — but the Saints typically ask their trade partners to pay part of the player’s salary to facilitate a trade. That’s what they’ve done in trades for Bradley Roby and Kwon Alexander in recent years. Maybe they circle back to that approach.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Right now the Saints need to focus on getting back in the win column so they can be in a position to buy, not sell, at that trade deadline next month. Still, moves like this Smith release should be noted when we take a big-picture look at this team.

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Full waiver wire order for all 32 teams at NFL roster cuts deadline

Full waiver wire for all 32 teams at NFL roster cuts deadline: Where do the New Orleans Saints stand in waiver priority?

More than 1,000 NFL players will be released, waived, or traded ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s annual deadline, with many of them (but not all) eligible for claiming on the waiver wire. That’s an opportunity for the New Orleans Saints and many other teams to get better by acquiring players who either weren’t good fits in their last spot or who were pushed off the depth chart by offseason upgrades.

But where are the Saints picking? At this point on the NFL calendar waiver wire priority is determined by the 2023 draft order, without any trades, meaning the Saints clock in at No. 10 overall. It will change once games are played and teams begin racking up wins or suffering losses. For now, here is where New Orleans slots in:

Instant analysis on every New Orleans Saints move at roster cuts deadline

Check this space often. We’ve got instant analysis on every New Orleans Saints move at the roster cuts deadline:

The New Orleans Saints have begun the difficult process of trimming their depth chart down from 89 players to just 53 ahead of Tuesday afternoon’s NFL roster cuts deadline, and we’ll be keeping up with every transaction until the team is at capacity. We’ve got a reference here for what all the different terms and rules mean this time of the year.

Here’s our instant analysis on every Saints roster cut:

Saints have a history of last-minute trades at roster cuts deadline

The Saints have agreed to at least one trade (and sometimes two) at the annual NFL roster cuts deadline in six of the last seven years. Will 2023 follow that same pattern?

Trade talks are picking up around the NFL with the annual roster cuts deadline approaching on Tuesday and the start of the regular season looming not far behind, and it’s a good bet that the New Orleans Saints could make a deal with another team.

Whether it’s swapping a player for draft picks or exchanging one player for another, the Saints have a history of being both sellers and buyers at this deadline. They’re always active. New Orleans has made at least one trade  (and sometimes two) near the late-summer deadline in six of the last seven years:

14 most challenging cuts from our latest Saints 53-man roster projection

Breaking down the 14 most challenging cuts from our latest New Orleans Saints 53-man roster projection:

They aren’t without their faults, but the New Orleans Saints have built a strong team this year. If they can just keep their best players healthy they should run away with the NFC South title and potentially make some noise in the postseason.

But the road to get there isn’t as easy as you’d think. A lot of talented players and likeable young men are going to be left on the outside looking in. Many of them will get a second chance on the Saints practice squad, but for others Sunday’s preseason game with the Houston Texans is going to be the last time they wear a helmet with a fleur-de-lis on the side of it.

So which roster cuts were the most challenging in our latest projection? For one reason or another, these moves gave us the most pause:

Could Hunter Renfrow continue the Raiders exodus to New Orleans?

Could Hunter Renfrow be the next ex-Raider to team up with Derek Carr? The Saints have added several already, and a trade would make sense after June 1:

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Derek Carr wasn’t the only former member of the Las Vegas Raiders to join the New Orleans Saints this offseason — it turns out he was simply the first. After signing him in free agency, the Saints made moves to bring in several of Carr’s former Raiders teammates like defensive back Johnathan Abram, wide receiver Bryan Edwards and most recently tight end Foster Moreau.

Could slot receiver Hunter Renfrow be next? It’s a question we’ve asked before, and it’s worth circling back to. The Saints receiving corps is in a stronger position than it was this time last year, having added talented rookies A.T. Perry (Wake Forest), Shaquan Davis (South Carolina State) and Malik Flowers (Montana), along with veteran free agents in Edwards and James Washington. It’s a group that also has 2022 breakouts Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed on top with Michael Thomas returning from another injury. But there’s a case to be made in favor of acquiring Renfrow.

For one thing, he was one of Carr’s favorite targets when the Raiders were running Jon Gruden’s West Coast-style offense, which shares a lot of DNA with the Sean Payton-installed system in New Orleans. Renfrow lined up in the slot on 86%, 64%, 63% and 71% of his routes over the last four years and would be used in a similar role to Jarvis Landry last season, but with youth, athleticism and sure hands on his side. From a football fit, adding him as the primary slot would give Olave and Shaheed the flexibility to line up all over the formation while taking some pressure off Thomas to be the lone veteran presence in the lineup.

Carr looked his way often on third downs (converting a fresh set of downs on 58 of his 88 receptions, off of 118 career targets) and inside the red zone (scoring a touchdown on 15 of his 33 receptions inside the opposing 20-yard line, having drawn 45 career targets in that range), and there’s a lot of trust between the receiver and quarterback. If a play breaks down, Renfrow knows where his passer wants him to be.

What about the cost to acquire him? Let’s start with his contract. Per Over The Cap, the Raiders would save more than $11.2 million against the salary cap this year by trading Renfrow after June 1 while also clearing his $11.1 million salary from the books in 2024, which the Saints would be liable for as well as Renfrow’s $6.5 million salary in 2023. The Raiders already paid Renfrow’s $4.3 million roster bonus back in March, but the salary cap costs can be deferred to next year by waiting to trade him after that date on the NFL’s fiscal calendar.

The Saints are still under the salary cap by more than $14.2 million after signing most of their rookie draft class (second-round defensive end Isaiah Foskey is the last remaining player yet to sign) so they could easily absorb those costs for Renfrow outright, but a restructured contract could make sense too. Lowering his 2023 salary to the veteran minimum ($1.08 million) and paying the difference as a signing bonus prorated over five years would bring 2023 cap hit all the down to about $2.1 million while retaining cap flexibility for other moves. Whether that means signing an extension with defensive end Cameron Jordan or right guard Cesar Ruiz (or both), or bringing in more veterans, the Saints would have the means to do what they want.

What about the trade package? The Saints have five picks in the 2024 NFL draft and could offer their fifth- or sixth-round selections to the Raiders, or the sixth-rounder they got from the Philadelphia Eagles as part of the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade last summer. They could also dig deeper in their pockets if the Raiders are willing to accept a pick from the 2025 or 2026 drafts.

There’s another point to consider here: Why would the Raiders trade away a good player? It’s a good question, and it’s not one they’ve done a great job of answering in parting ways with proven veterans like Carr and tight end Darren Waller this offseason while prioritizing anyone who conceivably made a Dunkin’ Donuts run for Tom Brady at some point in his NFL career. Head coach Josh McDaniels brought in former New England Patriots slot receiver Jakobi Myers to replace Renfrow in free agency, and reports out of Las Vegas suggest a split is brewing after June 1, when it becomes more financially tenable for the notoriously cash-poor Raiders. We could find out where Renfrow lands in about two weeks.

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Upcoming NFL deadline could spur new wave of Saints free agency

An upcoming NFL deadline could spur a new wave of Saints free agency. After 3 p.m. CT on Monday, veteran signings will not count against 2024 compensatory draft picks:

The 2023 NFL draft just concluded, but things aren’t about to slow down for the New Orleans Saints. There’s an NFL deadline coming up at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET on Monday, May 1, at which point veteran free agent signings will no longer count into the formula for compensatory picks in the 2024 draft.

That means the Saints can turn their attention to the veteran market and plug some of their remaining holes after the draft without jeopardizing future draft picks. That’s the approach they took in previous years by waiting to sign big-name free agents like Tyrann Mathieu and Jameis Winston, and the pattern could repeat itself. New Orleans is projected to receive a pair of compensatory fourth rounders and a sixth-round pick in 2024.

We’ve already highlighted some positions of need and possible targets at tight end, linebacker, and along defensive line, but things are wide open. We could see the Saints target another wide receiver or better offensive line depth. They’ve made the secondary a priority and could go looking for more help on the back end if the price makes sense. After signing their rookie draft class and undrafted free agents, New Orleans is estimated to have about $11 million to throw around, which ranks inside the top-10 around the league.

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NFL makes big change to roster cuts process

The NFL made huge changes to its roster cuts process ahead of the 2023 season, with teams reducing depth charts from 90 players to 53 in a single day:

The NFL descended on Phoenix this week for spring ownership meetings, where a number of proposals from teams were voted on — and in some cases ratified. One of the biggest changes is an overhaul for the annual roster cuts process. In 2023, every team (including the New Orleans Saints) will reduce rosters from 90 players to just 53 on Aug. 29.

That’s a huge departure from what’s been done before, when teams would gradually thin out their rosters with weekly waves of releases. Things have been trending in this direction in recent years with the number of release dates condensed down further and further. Now there’s just one.

It’s going to be tough on the players, with 1,184 of them hitting the free agent market just two weeks before the season starts. They’ll all be flooding the market together and looking for work. For teams, this may be a response to the reduced preseason, which went from four exhibition games to three, giving them fewer opportunities to evaluate players on the roster bubble. We’ll see how it all shakes out in the summer.

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Saints have two deadlines to consider in Michael Thomas extension talks

The Saints have two deadlines to consider in Michael Thomas extension talks. They’d like this deal to be done by Wednesday, but Friday brings heavier consequences:

Will the New Orleans Saints be able to hammer out a contract extension with Michael Thomas? Things are trending that way, but there’s a couple of important deadlines to dial in on as both sides continue to meet at the negotiating table.

Per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, Thomas will be owed a $200,000 roster bonus if he’s on the roster under his current deal at 3 p.m. CT on Wednesday, March 15. That isn’t much more than a drop in the bucket as far as the $223 million salary cap is concerned, but losing that money wouldn’t be the best use of resources.

More concerning is the $31 million roster bonus for 2024 that will become fully guaranteed on Friday. The Saints need to get out in front of that poison pill and reach a resolution with Thomas one way or another — either by tearing up his contract and signing him to a new deal or by releasing him altogether.

Thomas played a part in helping the team recruit Derek Carr, who has been talking about him like a new contract is already signed and delivered. But we’ll have to wait and see if the Saints and the Saints can beat the clock.

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Derek Carr had dinner with Saints brass, visiting team facility a second day

Derek Carr had dinner with Saints brass, returns to visit the team facility for a second day of meetings, as first reported by @nick_underhill:

The New Orleans Saints kicked off a second day of meetings with Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on Thursday, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill, who adds that the Saints took Carr out to dinner on Wednesday night after he spent the day meeting with coaches and touring the team facility. It’s developing into a drawn-out recruiting pitch, but a second day suggests he’s receptive to what they’re selling him.

And the clock is ticking. The Raiders will be on the hook for more than $40 million in guaranteed money over the next two years if Carr is on their roster after 3 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Feb. 15. They’re hoping to reach an agreement to trade him to another team like the Saints prior to that deadline, or else he’ll be released and become a free agent.

New Orleans probably can’t afford to enter a bidding war with other teams should Carr hit the open market so they have some incentive to reach a deal with Las Vegas, but a trade will only materialize if Carr is happy with the situation he’s walking into thanks to his no-trade clause. That gives him a ton of leverage and agency in these discussions, but it’s notable that he hasn’t yet scheduled any future meetings with other teams as this window continues to shrink. The Saints are very much in the driver’s seat.

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