We'll quickly know what the New Orleans Saints plan of attack is.
The new league year is right around the corner, and the team is going to have to go from speed to execution in order to get under the salary cap and then see where things land going into free agency. One player's future we keep tabs on is safety Tyrann Mathieu.
A recent report suggested that the Saints were considering releasing Mathieu with him having one year left on his contract. He clearly saw it and responded publicly.
Mathieu said on X/Twitter Sunday night, "Slow news day I see…504 forever!! I am New Orleans!"
Mathieu has no intention of retiring, for starters. He does have a high cap hit at $11.3 million for 2025, but releasing him right now would cost the team $12.3 million in dead money while also not providing any cap savings. A post-June 1 designation would change a little of that, but New Orleans can only use two of those. One will be for Ryan Ramczyk.
It's not uncommon to see anything and everything after the Scouting Combine, but the main thing to remember is to follow the source said rumor is coming from, do your homework and check into it yourself. Most all of these 'reports' are worded in a way that could be wrong and could be right.
Regardless of what happens, the reality is that New Orleans does need to get better at the safety position in the offseason. Will Harris is a free agent, Mathieu is in the final year of his deal and Jordan Howden is the only other player in the mix for playing time. J.T. Gray is primarily special teams.
A new defensive scheme under Brandon Staley will need a lot of parts and pieces to work, and Mathieu could certainly help. He also needs to stay available, obviously. One other thing to remember is that Kellen Moore really likes the leadership in the Saints locker room, which would be another reason he'd want to have him stay in New Orleans. Naturally, we'll see what happens.
