-
Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff WriterNov 13, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Katherine Terrell came back to ESPN to cover the New Orleans Saints in the summer of 2022. She left the company in 2019 after joining in 2016 to cover the Cincinnati Bengals. Katherine is a graduate of LSU and a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native, and she has covered the NFL since 2013. You can follow Katherine on Twitter: @Kat_Terrell
METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints made two major moves last week when they parted ways with coach Dennis Allen and traded cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Now the Saints must figure out the rest of their future.
Interim coach Darren Rizzi said the team (3-7) is focused on the short term after snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10. That sentiment was echoed by general manager Mickey Loomis, who said the team wouldn’t rush its next coaching search.
“That’s not something that we’re gonna be real active with right now. There’s plenty of time for that when the season ends. Our focus has got to be on our team, our players, our coaches, our staff,” Loomis said in an interview with WWL-Radio last week.
Top stories of the week from
Get exclusive access to thousands of premium articles a year from top writers.
• New NBA mock draft: All 30 picks »
• Solak: Cards for real? Bears QB, more »
• Transfer portal: ‘Million-dollar QBs’ »
More ESPN+ content »
But the Saints will eventually have to sort out how they want to approach the next offseason after more than a decade of deferring salary cap hits in order to keep the championship window open. That strategy helped the Saints make the playoffs repeatedly under quarterback Drew Brees, but they might have to take a new approach if they miss the postseason for a fourth straight year.
The Saints have six players over age 30 who represent a huge chunk of their salary cap space next year. All are current or former team captains: Linebacker Demario Davis (35), defensive end Cameron Jordan (35), tight end Taysom Hill (34), quarterback Derek Carr (33), safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk (30).
Per NFLPA records, those six players, all with questions about age, injuries or production, are currently scheduled to represent $140 million in salary cap figures next year, about 40% of the approximate $340 million in player salaries and bonuses on the books for 2025.
That figure includes $48 million in dead money hits from releasing receiver Michael Thomas and quarterback Jameis Winston as post-June 1 cuts in March and trading Lattimore, and another potential $17.5 million in dead money if the contracts of tight end Juwan Johnson, defensive ends Tanoh Kpassagnon and Chase Young automatically void.
The 2024 salary cap ceiling was set at $255.4 million and has jumped $47.2 million since 2022. The 2025 salary cap figure won’t be set for several months, but if it was raised another $20 million to $275.4 million, for example, the Saints could be about $65 million over the cap.
New Orleans has solved this problem in the past with simple restructures, pushing money into the next year’s salary cap. While the team will certainly use this strategy again on some players, here’s a look at what the Saints might have to consider with some of the oldest players on the roster.
While former coach Dennis Allen was in quarterback Derek Carr’s corner, the next coach could have a different vision at quarterback. Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
QB Derek Carr
Carr is tied to Allen in some ways. He was drafted by him in 2014 and recruited by him to play for the Saints in 2023. While Allen was in Carr’s corner, the next coach could have a different vision at quarterback.
Rizzi wasn’t asked about the long term outlook but made it clear after accepting the new role that they would stick with Carr at least in the short term. Carr had a season-high 269 passing yards against the Falcons and two touchdowns and was not sacked for the first time in his Saints career.
“Honestly, we have nothing to lose. They already fired our coach. We lost last week at the time to a team that was in last place in our division, what else do we have to lose?” Carr said after the Atlanta game. ” … That mindset of keep playing, keep competing kind of put an ease to everybody.”
Carr is signed with the Saints for two more seasons and is guaranteed a $10 million roster bonus next year. His $30 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2025 league year.
That means the Saints won’t be heading into training camp next season uncertain if Carr is their guy — they’ll need to make a decision by the time the free agency period begins. Restructuring Carr’s contract will only make a $61 million problem in 2026 even worse.
Best of NFL Nation
• How Ulbrich compares to Saleh in N.Y.
• Saints’ salary cap and Derek Carr’s future
• McCaffrey return sends 49ers back to roots
• Jacobs brings ‘different dynamic’ to Packers’
• Why Tyreek is is struggling this season
New Orleans could designate Carr as a post-June 1 release, accounting for only $21.458 million in 2025 and $28.674 next year. The Saints can only use this option on two players: It allows the player to be released before June 1 and enter free agency without having to wait until the actual posted date, while the team can spread out the salary cap hit over two years instead of one.
The Saints could forge ahead with the $50 million figure by moving ahead with Carr in 2025 without restructuring or negotiating pay cut in 2025 or by giving him a standard release and absorbing $50 million to the 2025 salary cap.
The final decision on Carr will come down to multiple factors, and the next coach is one of them. How he finishes 2024 can have an impact, but their evaluation of the younger quarterbacks on the roster (Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler) could also play a role, as well as their draft position.
2025 cap hit: $51.458 million
Post-June 1 release cap savings: $30 million
Standard release cap savings: $1.3 million
OT Ryan Ramczyk
Ramczyk hasn’t played a game since Dec. 12, 2023 because of degenerative knee issues and was placed on the season-ending physically unable to perform list in July.
He is under contract for two more seasons but has no guaranteed money remaining in his contract, and retirement might be an option because of the nature of the injury.
If that happens, Ramczyk and the Saints could work out something similar to what Brees did when he retired in 2021. They could take his base salary from $18 million to the veteran minimum of $1.255 million, opening up $16.745 million prior to free agency. Then Ramczyk could officially file his retirement papers after June 2, allowing New Orleans to get the remaining base salary off the books.
In that scenario, the Saints would only account for $11.083 million in dead money in 2025 instead of the entire $23.066 million remaining in prorated signing bonuses.
2025 cap hit: $29.083 million
Standard release cap savings: $6.10 million
Post-June 1 retirement cap savings: $18 million
DE Cameron Jordan
Jordan, 35, signed a two-year extension in 2023, a move Jordan said he hoped would allow him to retire as a Saint. Jordan, who is now in his 14th season, said at the time that Year 15 was a “maybe” and there probably won’t be a Year 16.
The defensive end has only three sacks since signing the extension and is currently playing a career low in snaps. He has not discussed his future this year, but is due $12.5 million in base salary in the final season of his contract, with $1.5 million guaranteed. The $12.5 million becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the roster the third day of the 2025 league year.
That means the Saints and Jordan will need to make a decision by March on his future. Because New Orleans restructured Jordan’s contract so many times, he has $22.485 in prorated signing bonuses remaining.
If the Saints were to part ways with Jordan, the best way would be to designate him one of two post-June 1 releases, so that they would only have to account for $9.061 million in 2025 (the $1.5 million base and $7.56 million in signing bonuses for 2025).
2025 cap hit: $20.061 million
Standard release cap savings: None ($3.9 million cap hit)
Post-June 1 release cap savings: $11 million
Taysom Hill will be the oldest skill position on the team if he is on the roster next year. Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
TE Taysom Hill
Hill will be the oldest skill position on the team if he is on the roster next year.
He started his NFL career at 27 in 2017, so he doesn’t have the wear and tear in terms of pure snap count, but he amassed a lot of injuries because of his physical running style, including a concussion, ruptured tendon in his finger and Lisfranc fracture in 2021 and rib injuries in 2022. A reported bruised lung and rib fractures combined for four missed games in 2024.
He is due $10 million in base salary in 2025, the final year of his contract. Hill was one of the last major restructures of the 2024 offseason with the exception of Alvin Kamara, who eventually signed an extension.
Hill’s future feels up in the air like Carr’s, as a new coaching staff might not approach his usage like offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak intended to when the season started, deploying him as a fullback in addition to running back, wide receiver and quarterback.
The Saints struggled offensively once Hill got hurt — although he was just one of many injuries that impacted them — but it’s hard to say whether they view his production will be worth $10 million.
New Orleans could approach Hill about a pay cut in the last year of his contract to provide cap relief, which is something it has done with other players in the past. This would be the most ideal option for New Orleans, as outright releasing him would provide minimal savings.
2025 cap hit: $17.986 million
Standard release cap savings: $277,000
Post-June 1 release cap savings: $10 million
LB Demario Davis
Davis is signed through the 2025 season and guaranteed at least $4.25 million in guaranteed base salary and roster bonuses. This is because of a pay cut he took in 2024 in exchange for adding years to his contract.
Davis, a longtime captain, has been one of the best free-agent signings in Saints history (outside of Brees), so how long he plays is likely a matter of how long he can hold up physically and whether he wants to return another year. New Orleans has yet to develop his replacement, and while Davis missed the first game because of injury in his career this season, he’s played every snap since he returned.
The Saints would have $17.2 million in dead money if they released Davis and no cap savings as an outright release. Savings would only come from another cut to his base salary (unlikely two seasons in a row), a negotiated retirement or a post-June 1 release.
2025 cap hit: $12.483 million
Standard release cap savings: None ($4.73 million cap hit)
Post-June 1 release cap savings: $4 million
Safety Tyrann Mathieu agreed to less money in 2024 in exchange for adding more years to his contract. AP Photo/Butch Dill
S Tyrann Mathieu
Mathieu also agreed to less money in 2024 in exchange for adding more years to his contract and is in a similar scenario to Davis.
He is guaranteed at least $3.5 million in base salary and roster bonuses in 2025, which means the Saints would absorb $14.8 million in dead money by releasing him outright in 2025.
Mathieu admitted recently that he felt like he hasn’t played up to his own standards the last two years. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Mathieu has 12 missed tackles this season after missing a combined 15 the last two seasons.
“I take a lot of responsibility for the way we played on the back end and how its looked. It’s not my standard, it’s not my way of doing things,” Mathieu said last week. “I just feel bad. I feel bad about it,”
The Saints have a potential replacement on the roster in 24-year-old Jordan Howden, but they could decide to keep Mathieu another year at his current base salary of $6.25 million and cap hit of $11.317 million.
How long does Mathieu want to continue playing? He hasn’t said for sure, although he has expressed an interest in coaching after he retires.
2025 cap hit: $12.3 million
Standard release cap savings: None ($3.48 million cap hit)
Post-June 1 release cap savings: $3.75 million
