The Saints entered the offseason with one of the worst cap situations in the NFL, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter), the Saints opened up a significant chunk of cap space after restructuring cornerback Marshon Lattimore‘s contract.
Specifically, the team converted Lattimore’s base salary into a signing bonus, opening up a whopping $18.45MM in cap space. Per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football (on Twitter), the Saints are now about $5MM over the cap.
It’s another step forward for the cap-crunched Saints, who previously reworked the deals of defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Tanoh Kpassagnon. The team also restructured Alvin Kamara‘s deal yesterday, opening up another $8MM in space. Once the team manages to get the under the cap, they’ll have some interesting questions to answer, including a resolution on a potential long-term deal for standout safety Marcus Williams.
It hasn’t even been a year since Lattimore signed a lucrative five-year, $97.6MM extension with New Orleans. He earned another Pro Bowl nod (his fourth) in 2021 after finishing with 68 tackles, 19 passes defended, and three interceptions in 16 starts.
And they are now over the cap next year and still don’t have a QB. What a mess.
The Saints are looking at their own division as wide open – but should really be rebuilding.
When the bill comes due at the end of line it’s gonna be a b**ch. Ask the Packers and others.