The New Orleans Saints are proving to be themselves during an offseason once again. They brought back Chase Young and Juwan Johnson. They've made some depth signings in free agency and upgraded at safety with Justin Reid.
All of these moves have been while making restructures and pay cut agreements with players all offseason. New Orleans is about to garner more salary cap relief as well.
Saints salary cap update
The retirements of both quarterback Derek Carr and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk have officially been processed by the team and the NFL.
Carr has a $20.46 million cap charge which will drop to either $13.458 million or $19.207 million depending on how the league views a signing bonus he agreed to return/not receive from the team. In either case the carryover is the same as the near $6 million difference between the two numbers would be added to the Saints cap room next season for money not earned. Carr will count for a gigantic $36.674 million on the 2026 cap.
Ramczyk had already reworked his deal to allow for this so there are almost no savings there. The team will gain just $1.25 million with his 2025 dead money at $11.08 million and his 2026 dead money at $11.98 million. The Saints should be at $30 million in cap room which will mainly be used as carryover. -- OverTheCap
Keep in mind that both Cameron Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu also took pay cuts to stay in New Orleans earlier in the offseason.
The Saints have $22.8 million in cap space right now, according to OverTheCap.
That is a notable amount of room for a team that many expected to be dormant during free agency due to a tight salary cap situation a few months ago.
Saints sign Julian Blackmon following Tyrann Mathieu's retirement
The "Honey Badger" shocked a lot of people last week with his retirement from the NFL. He became a fan favorite for the Saints during his tenure. Less than 48 hours later, New Orleans had added veteran safety Julian Blackmon to their secondary - joining fellow free agent addition Justin Reid.
Tyler Shough's rookie deal
The Saints agreed to a deal with rookie quarterback Tyler Shough recently, too. The team ands player both did not want to see him miss time during training camp, so they found an agreement. Shough's four-year rookie contract is fully guaranteed.
Any more moves coming for New Orleans?
With all of these moves becoming official earlier this month, a potential free-agent signing for an impact player may be coming down the pike for the Saints.
A signing at wide receiver may make some sense, but New Orleans does like their room of weapons right now. On the flip-side, adding free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. may be on the table later this summer as well, once his medicals come back clear (hopefully). They showed interest there in May.
Plus, a lot of their open cap space could roll around for next year, too. They'll have plenty more moves to make in 2026 to create more space along their roster when it comes to the cap - once again.
