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Here’s how much salary cap space the Saints will save after June 1

The New Orleans Saints designed Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston as post-June 1 cuts. Here’s how much that will save them against the salary cap:

Early this offseason, the New Orleans Saints designed Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston as post-June 1 cuts, which is a mechanism that allows teams to release up to players (making them free agents) while spreading out the salary cap costs over this year and the next. The catch is that those savings won’t be felt until after June 1, and they’ll be offset by other players taking Thomas and Winston’s place on the accounting books.

So with that date rapidly approaching, here’s how much those moves will save the Saints against the salary cap. Winston, who signed with the Cleveland Browns early in free agency, will still count against the cap by $3.38 million in 2024 and $7.3 million in 2025. Because his cap charge to this point has been $4.59 million, the Saints will receive a cap credit of $1.21 million on June 2.

They’ll receive the same savings for Thomas; until now, his 2024 cap hit has been $12.4 million. It’ll drop to $8.9 million for the rest of this season while leaving behind a $11.1 million dead money charge in 2025. Like a dozen other players from last year’s Saints team, he has yet to sign with a new squad.

So think of it this way. The Saints are going to receive a combined $2.42 million in salary cap savings this weekend while carrying about $18.4 million in dead money on the books in 2025 for both Thomas and Winston. That sounds like a lot, but with the 2025 salary cap projected to reach at least $260 million we’re talking about 7% of the cap, at most, going to two players no longer on the team.

What about this year? Right now, the Saints are sitting under the cap by roughly $5.7 million after signing all but one of their draft picks (second-round cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, whose net cost to sign will ultimately be about $550,000). They’ll be in the clear by more than $5 million after getting these cap credits for Thomas and Winston, so it’s possible the Saints could make a trade or sign some more free agents before training camp with those extra resources. They could also choose to sit on that money and roll it over to help clear the 2025 salary cap, which would be responsible, but it’s more fun to speculate about new additions over the summer.

Update: The Saints signed McKinstry to his rookie contract, though the exact salary cap hit is yet to be reported. And as observed by Locked On Saints host Ross Jackson, the Saints didn’t save much against the cap on June 2. That’s because salary cap hits for Shane Lemieux ($1,055,000) and Jordan Howden ($996,682) took Thomas and Winston’s place on the top 51 contracts, offsetting the savings for a net gain of only about $368,318. OTC estimates the Saints to be under the cap by $5,473,316.

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Saints work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring Nathan Shepherd

The New Orleans Saints are continuing to work towards salary cap compliance by restructuring their contract with Nathan Shepherd:

Here’s your next New Orleans Saints salary cap maneuver: ESPN’s Field Yates reports that the team restructured their contract with defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd to save “just north of $3 (million)” following similar moves with quarterback Derek Carr and center Erik McCoy. Another restructure with right guard Cesar Ruiz is also in the works, per ESPN.

There’s just one thing: the math doesn’t check out for this to yield more than $3 million in savings. Shepherd was due $4.1 million in base salary with a $1 million signing bonus payout in 2024 prior to this restructure, which made for a $5.1 million cap hit. Lowering his salary to the minimum ($1.125 million) and converting the difference into a new signing bonus ($2.975 million paid out over five years for accounting purposes) would yield $2.23 million in savings, dropping his cap hit from $5.1 million to just $2.72 million.

So maybe that’s a typo or mistake from Yates. $2.23 million could be credibly described as “just north of” $2 million. We’ll see if Yates shares a clarification or if there’s something else going on here. Either way, whether it’s $2 million or $3 million, every dollar counts for the Saints. Few teams spend more than they do.

Shepherd’s base salary for 2024 was already guaranteed when he signed with the Saints last year, so he was going to get this money regardless. It’s just being paid out differently to better work around the salary cap. After restructuring their deals with Shepherd, Carr, and McCoy with Ruiz’s expected restructure factoring in, the Saints should be over the cap by about $33.2 million. That’s already $50 million less than where they started in offsesason projections.

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Report: Alvin Kamara restructures Saints contract, saving up to $7M against salary cap

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports Alvin Kamara restructured his Saints contract, saving another $7M against the salary cap:

There’s another one: NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the New Orleans Saints have restructured their contract with running back Alvin Kamara, saving another $7 million against the salary cap. That would put them at about $9 million over the spending limit, with which they must be compliant by Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT (the start of the new league year).

Because Kamara is expected to be suspended for six or more games, the Saints could have chosen not to restructure him and instead taken any savings from the game checks forfeited during a suspension. But restructuring him now protects that money by packaging it into a signing bonus instead of salary, which helps out Kamara while still saving the team some salary cap resources. Both sides come out ahead.

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11 potential salary cap casualties the Saints could target in NFL free agency

We’re still weeks away from the start of NFL free agency, but teams are already beginning to make moves with a wave of salary cap casualties sweeping across the league’s landscape. Teams are always looking to save some cash and part ways with underperforming players or open up room for acquiring new talent, and it’s an opportunity for cap-strapped teams like the New Orleans Saints to improve.

Often the players being let go right now are still effective in the right role and at the right price point. One major benefit to signing them after being let go is that they don’t factor into the league’s compensatory draft picks formula. Another upside is that their contracts frequently include offsetting payouts which helps balance out the new team’s salary. At the same time, teams are moving on from these guys for good reasons, and expectations should be matched accordingly.

Here are some players who could be on the outs with their current teams that the Saints should be monitoring closely:

6 Saints most likely to restructure their contracts in 2023

Restructures shouldn’t be as big a part of the Saints’ salary cap strategy moving forward, but these 6 players are candidates to redo their deals and get under the cap:

The New Orleans Saints are over the most optimistic 2023 salary cap projections by tens of millions of dollars, but their approach to getting under the cap should be more typical of what we see around the league. General manager Mickey Loomis and football administration vice president Khai Harley have both expressed a desire to manage their cap commitments less aggressively than when Sean Payton was leading the organization as head coach, which makes sense.

You can’t push all of your chips in forever. You lose depth and put a ton of pressure on your rookies to contribute right away. Your margin for error is razor-thin. If a couple of signings or draft picks don’t meet expectations, and if you don’t have a Hall of Fame quarterback and/or coach to pick up the slack, well: you go 7-10 and get left on the outside looking in during the playoffs.

Now with that said: contract restructures will always be a part of how the Saints work around the cap. It’s a common tool around the league. Now, we may not see the Saints routinely restructuring deals with nine or ten players each spring, but four or five smart reworkings should be expected. And here are six possible restructure candidates to watch out for in the weeks ahead:

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:

Saints release veteran defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr.

The New Orleans Saints released veteran defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr., saving more than $2.3 million against the 2020 salary cap.

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The New Orleans Saints have started trimming their roster down to just 53 players, and there’s a bit of surprise to one of their first cuts: defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr.

Edwards signed with the Saints last summer and appeared in 14 games, totaling 293 snaps played on defense. But the Saints can save $2.345 million against the 2020 salary cap by parting ways with him, and improved depth along the defensive line made him too expensive of a luxury. That raises their salary cap estimate to about $9.3 million.

Expect the Saints to round out the rotation behind Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport with returning backup Trey Hendrickson and second-year pro Carl Granderson — unless they’re able to land pricey free agent Jadeveon Clowney. The salary cap resources saved by releasing Edwards may go a long ways towards fitting Clowney onto their books.

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