Saints restructure Marcus Davenport’s deal

More than $8M of Davenport’s 2022 $9.6M base salary is now a signing bonus, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter. This created more than $6M of cap space for the Saints, who are perhaps in pole position to add a rather hefty contract to their payroll.

New Orleans and Carolina have been mentioned as the lead suitors for Deshaun Watson, who thus far has only been willing to waive his no-trade clause for these NFC South teams. Fitting Watson’s contract onto the payroll will be tricky, but the Saints have navigated winter cap issues for years. They cleared more than $100M off their payroll to move under the 2021 cap.

Watson’s contract calls for a $35M base salary in 2022. That amount is guaranteed. The Saints are clearly confident they can create sufficient space for the embattled quarterback, whose civil cases have yet to be resolved.

New Orleans completed a restructure similar to Davenport’s last year, moving much of Marshon Lattimore‘s fifth-year option salary into a bonus. Lattimore has since signed a long-term extension. Davenport’s deal expires after the 2022 season.

Davenport had a career-high nine sacks as well as three forced fumbles in 2021.