The New Orleans Saints have had a busy offseason that has created plenty of excitement for the 2026 NFL season.
They also aren’t done. The NFL’s salary cap guarantees that the Saints have at least one more roster move or contract move to make, if not more.
That’s because the Saints are over the salary cap. And with New Orleans opening the season on Sunday, Sept. 13 in Detroit against the Lions, there’s a little more than a week to remedy that.
Saints Salary Cap
The Saints are about $6 million over the cap, according to the salary-tracking website Over The Cap.
That means that the Saints will either need to make some cuts or find ways to restructure contracts.
At this point, given that cut day already came and went and the Saints opted to go through that while still over the cap, it’s more likely that they have a couple restructures in mind to move money around and get them under the line without actually losing any players.
“As of this morning we would estimate that four teams are likely over the cap and three teams are pretty close,” Over The Cap wrote on Friday. “The Bears look to be about $12 million over and will need to complete some restructures before next week. The Saints and Panthers both sit about $6 million over though the Panthers number is contingent on how the league is treating Taylor Moton’s NFI status. Once healthy they would definitely need to clear room. The Lions are about $3 million over the cap.”
The NFL salary cap is a fascinating construction, because the frequency of contracts being restructured gives teams a pretty good shot of always being under it.
Obviously, there’s only so much money that can be moved around, but teams often push it down the line multiple times just to continue remaining in cap compliance.
In the Saints’ case, the flexibility that restructures allow should keep them in decent shape by the time Week 1 kicks off.
Saints Contracts
The Saints have actually done pretty well for themselves from a salary perspective.
Their biggest money on the books is Chris Olave’s new deal, which has an average annual value of $31 million per year.
From there, it drops down to Chase Young at $17 million per year — but the pass rusher will actually only make about $9.6 million this season before the salary number jumps in a big way for 2027.
David Edwards ($15.25 million) and Travis Etienne ($12 million) were two big averages added this offseason in free agency.
The Saints are helped by having a starting quarterback just in his second year. QBs on rookie contracts make things a little smoother in the salary department.
New Orleans has enough players owed future money, like Edwards, Kaden Elliss, Carl Granderson, Erik McCoy and more, to probably pull off some restructures in the days ahead.
Saints Still Have $6 Million Roster Move To Make