Entering the 2025 NFL offseason, no team will be in a worse salary cap situation than the New Orleans Saints. Given their current state as a rebuilding franchise, that is a less-than-ideal position to be in, forcing them to make roster adjustments in the near future. The quickest and most cost-effective way will be for the Saints to compile a list of cut candidates.
With a plethora of big contracts on their books, the Saints are projected to be $52 million in the hole in the 2025 NFL offseason. Major transactions during recent offseasons — including the signing of Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara and Cameron Jordan — are beginning to come back to haunt them. Such gambles did not pay off in 2024, leaving them in limbo the following offseason.
Before free agency even began, the Saints had already made one major offseason move. New Orleans landed recent Super Bowl LIX champion Kellen Moore as its next head coach, filling the void Dennis Allen left behind. Moore rose up the ranks as one of the top offensive coordinators in the league over the past half-decade, giving fans reason to be excited for the upcoming season despite a 5-12 finish in 2024.
Even with Moore, the Saints have a host of moves to make before returning to Super Bowl contention. Aside from being one of the most expensive rosters in the league, they are also one of the oldest. New Orleans had an average age of 26.7 in 2024, the fifth-highest in the NFL. That stat contrasts with the hiring of Moore, who became the youngest head coach at the time of his hiring.
Under the new regime, it is possible for New Orleans to favor youth moving forward. Either way, the Saints have to thin out their roster to make any major moves in the 2025 NFL offseason.
DE Cameron Jordan
With his 14th season now in the books, Cameron Jordan is now just two games behind Drew Brees for the most in Saints history. Unfortunately, if the front office prioritizes its business model the way it should, Jordan will not get there.
At 35 — and soon-to-be 36 in July — Jordan is the oldest and longest-tenured player on the team. He is also still well-compensated, earning the third-highest annual salary in New Orleans. His recent production has just not aligned with the cost, particularly for a defensive end. Jordan’s sack numbers have dramatically decreased over the past two years, with just two in 2023 and four in 2024.
As Jordan continues to age, the Saints have adequately supplemented him with young talent. In 2024, the reinforcements came in the form of former first-round picks Payton Turner and Chase Young. Both were admirable in a reserve role, particularly Young, who finished second on the team with 5.5 sacks.
Young’s career has not nearly met the expectations he was given upon entering the league, but he thoroughly outperformed them in 2024. His impressive output kept him on the field for 62 percent of the total defensive snaps. That number aligns with many starters around the league and is noticeably higher than Jordan’s 48 percent. The veteran still started all 17 games, but it was typically Young on the field opposite Carl Granderson in crunch time.
At the very least, the Saints need to explore potentially re-working Jordan’s inflated contract in the 2025 NFL offseason. But as hard as it would be, an outright release is well within the realm of possibility.
QB/RB/TE Taysom Hill
Since finding his niche with the Saints in 2018, Taysom Hill has become a staple of the dysfunctional organization, even beyond Sean Payton’s tenure. However, despite being just seven years into his professional career, Hill is already preparing for his age-35 season on the heels of yet another significant injury.
Historically, players similar to Hill have not been as effective into their thirties. However, before going down with a knee injury, Hill remained New Orleans’ top short-yardage option in 2024. Unfortunately, even more concerning than his age is the fact that the torn ACL was the sixth serious leg injury of Hill’s career since he debuted with BYU in 2012.
If Hill was on a league-average contract, there would likely be no doubt that he would end his career in black and gold. Instead, his $40 million contract is the sixth-highest on the team. Despite his effectiveness and versatility, the bottom line is the Saints paid Hill $10 million to play less than half of the offensive snaps in all but two games of 2024.
With Kellen Moore now confirmed as New Orleans’ next head coach, fans are already salivating at the prospect of how the offensive guru can utilize the Swiss Army Knife on the field. But if the Saints truly want to turn the sinking ship around, Hill’s contract makes him one of the leading cut candidates during the 2025 NFL offseason.
RB Jamaal Williams
Three years removed from leading the league in rushing touchdowns, Jamaal Williams’ Saints career has not been as glamorous. Expectations could only have been so high for the 29-year-old veteran. Yet, he has continuously dropped down the depth chart as each week passed over the past two years.
From the moment he arrived in New Orleans, Williams was expected to be nothing more than the team’s short-yardage back. After the success he had in that role with the Detroit Lions, he seemed like a perfect complement to Alvin Kamara in the backfield. However, that did not tend to play out on the field. In his two years with the team, Williams has just 470 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Williams nearly immediately lost his role as the short-yardage back to Hill, whom the team preferred as a utility weapon. But even during Hill’s injury absences, he lost snaps to former third-round pick Kendre Miller. Ahead of the 2025 NFL offseason, both Williams and Miller prepare for their third year in New Orleans. The former is currently raking in nearly $3 million more in annual salary despite seeing less field time.
Down the stretch of the 2024 regular season, Williams’ playing time took a steep drop off. His lack of snaps directly coincided with an increase in Miller’s usage. Whether or not that was solely due to the coaching staff preferring to give their young player additional reps in a lost season remains to be seen. Regardless, early indications suggest Williams sits atop the Saints’ chopping block.
