The Saints continue to make changes to the contracts of players on their roster, having most recently restructured running back Mark Ingram‘s deal, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The move comes on the heels of the team also reworking Cameron Jordan‘s and Thomas Morstead‘s contracts.
[RELATED: Saints sign Nick Fairley]
Ingram, who had been in line for a $3MM base salary in 2016, saw $2.235MM of that money converted into a signing bonus, reducing his base salary to just $765K. The signing bonus is prorated over the next three seasons, opening up $1.49MM in cap room for the Saints in 2016. The running back’s cap hit has been reduced from $4MM to $2.51MM, but his 2017 and 2018 cap charges have increased to $5.245MM and $6.245MM respectively.
In the short term, the move gives the Saints a little more flexibility to continue to conduct offseason business, including finalizing Nick Fairley‘s new deal with the team. After Jordan’s and Morstead’s contracts were restructured, the Saints were said to have about $3.03MM in cap room, but Fairley is set to count for $3MM against the cap, reducing the minimal flexibility New Orleans had. Ingram’s restructure gives the club a bit of breathing room.
As for the long-term ramifications of the move, with Ingram’s cap hit on the rise for 2017 and 2018, the odds of him playing out his entire contract have probably diminished. Depending on how he performs in 2016, Ingram may have his deal addressed again in some form by the Saints a year from now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Saints need to stop restructuring deals and signing guys where they are already strong. I understand that they probably want to try to win another ring for Brees but barring multiple miracles, this team isn’t going anywhere. They keep this up and they’ll eventually have to commit to a massive rebuilding phase that will probably see them setting records for how bad they are going to be.
I’m thinking they are doing what they can to win with Brees and kick the can on the cap down the road with him at QB as long as they can. When he does retire they lose their QB, but they get $20-25 million off their annual commitments and the cap problem is fixed.