Saints' Free Agent Deals Signal Major Shift in Salary Cap Philosophy

The Saints seem to be doing things differently now

Feb 13, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints introduce Kellen Moore as the head coach and he addresses the media at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

For years, the New Orleans Saints were stuck adding several void years to the simplest contracts to ensure they were salary-cap compliant.

Take Taysom Hill's unusually large four-year, $140 million contract restructure as an example. In March 2021, the two sides agreed to a contract restructure that freed up $7.5 million in cap space by adding four voidable years to spread out a $9.6 million signing bonus. It wasn't actually a record-breaking deal, but rather an incredibly complicated salary cap mechanism.

Now, the Saints are slowly climbing out of the hole that they dug themselves into several years prior. Their new free-agent contracts have been processed and contain no void years, according to NFL reporter Ari Meirov.

A new financial era for the Saints

Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the helmet worn by New Orleans Saints safety Ugo Amadi (0) with and American Flag and the flag of Nigeria during warmups against the Arizona Cardinals at Caesars Superdome. | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

"All of the Saints' free-agent contracts done so far this offseason do not contain void years," Meirov wrote. "After years of being one of the most complex salary cap teams in the NFL, the Saints’ books are now closer to healthy than unhealthy."

The Saints signed seven players through the first week of free agency to contracts totaling over $180 million, with almost $80 million guaranteed at signing, according to according to Spotrac. New Orleans distributed $61 million to offensive lineman David Edwards and $52 million to running back Travis Etienne Jr. within the first few hours of free agency. They also signed linebacker Kaden Ellis to a three-year, $33 million deal and allocated $14 million over four seasons to punter Ryan Wright.

Even after adding those players, the Saints have over $18 million in cap space, giving them more flexibility to sign additional players. This is a big change from the days when New Orleans would go into the offseason $80 million over the cap, struggling to restructure players to get under the cap before the new league year.

For the first time in a while, the Saints will have the ability to be aggressive in the second and third waves of free agency or to execute a trade for any player that may become available.

The new breathing room also benefits New Orleans in the upcoming NFL Draft. Without the pressure to find an immediate, low-cost replacement for cap casualties, the Saints can focus on a "best player available" approach to support Tyler Shough and the young core.