For salary cap nerds, one of the most exciting things about the offseason is seeing the various ways Saints general manager Mickey Loomis manages to take millions of dollars in debt and turn it into space for the team to work with in free agency.
The question to getting under the cap has begun: the Saints have converted $6.07M of S Marcus Maye’s 2023 compensation into a signing bonus, creating $4.856M in cap space, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 15, 2023
The team started that process on Wednesday, lowering its 2023 salary cap total by restructuring safety Marcus Maye's contract, saving $4.9 million for the upcoming season.
The Saints need every bit of help they can get if they want to land free-agent QB Derek Carr, a player they've been connected to for the past couple of weeks. Per Oddschecker, the Saints have the second-best odds of landing Carr, behind the Panthers.
Considering Carolina is in the same division as New Orleans, the Saints may be even more aggressive in trying to land the veteran QB.
The Saints entered Wednesday with the lowest amount of cap space in the NFL but Maye's restructure moved New Orleans ahead of division rival Tampa Bay.
The team remains $55 million over the cap and will likely announce more restructures in the days to come. Per data from Over The Cap, the team would free up $69.9 million if it restructured the contracts of Cam Jordan, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramcyk, Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, Demario Davis, Erik McCoy and Tyrann Mathieu.
The team could also save money by extending player contracts as well as making cuts.
Whether New Orleans lands Carr or not, the front office needs cap space to make improvements this offseason so that it can curb the franchise's downward trajectory.
Maye's restructured contract is just the start of Loomis's yearly ritual that's beginning to resemble a rote action blockbuster. In those films, we know the protagonist will save the day, even if the odds are stacked against them. The thrill lies in witnessing the escape.
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