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The New Orleans Saints freed up $7.75 million in spending-room beneath the 2020 salary cap, but what do they plan to do with it? And how much cap space will they have to work with once they’re finished signing undrafted rookies and their four draft picks?
Thankfully, the analysts at Over The Cap have answers. While the details on slot receiver Austin Carr’s new one-year contract with the Saints have yet to be reported, the OTC team estimates the Saints to have about $9.37 million in salary cap space. But it’s a little more complicated than that.
While no one in this year’s college free agent class figures to qualify for the top-51 contract rule, three of the four rookie draft picks will. Those deals haven’t been signed yet, but the cap values are already determined based off draft slots. Cesar Ruiz ($2,305,310), Zack Baun ($874,672), and Adam Trautman ($818,073) will each push less-valuable contracts off the books, leaving us with a projected cap space figure just north of $8.62 million. Let’s be clear: the Saints did not cut Warford because they couldn’t afford to sign their rookies. The money was already there.
That number will decrease slightly once Carr’s contract terms are reported, but not by much. He may qualify for the veteran minimum benefit and count just $887,500 against the salary cap, much like Michael Burton, Johnson Bademosi, Dwayne Washington, and Margus Hunt. But stay tuned for confirmation.
But let’s circle back to the original question: what are the Saints going to do with these new resources? Last year, New Orleans took the initiative in extending their contracts with team leaders like Cameron Jordan and Michael Thomas. They could take a similar approach with Demario Davis or Alvin Kamara later this summer.
It’s fun to think of the Saints going for broke in pursuit of a difference-maker on defense like Everson Griffen or Logan Ryan, but their past investments up front (in David Onyemata and Malcom Brown) and on the back end (to Malcolm Jenkins and Janoris Jenkins) might shift their focus elsewhere. Whichever direction the Saints go next, they’ll have plenty of options.
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