By Ross Jackson
The New Orleans Saints got a major win earlier this offseason recouping $30 million as a part of the retirement of former starting quarterback Derek Carr. That money won’t come back to them all in one swoop. It will take another offseason for them to realize the full benefits of the base salary refund. However, they are still in a good salary cap situation right away regardless.
Because the Saints created a mass of cap space this offseason, they are currently sitting on a surplus that we believe they will try to roll over to next year, at least, as much of it as they can save throughout the season.
Expenses will arise like practice squad signings, free agency additions to deal with attrition, potential trade deadline moves, and more. But for now, even with the majority of its draft class signed, New Orleans is in good shape.
OverTheCap.com tracks salary cap spending and status very well throughout the season. When they do so, they will track not just what they believe the salary cap to be at the moment, which currently only applies to the top-51 highest paid players on each roster, but they also track “effective cap space.”
Effective cap space takes rookie class signings into consideration as well.
While the Saints have more than $22.6 million available outside of their top-51 ($23.1 million if you ask the NFLPA), they also have over $16 million remaining while accounting for the rookie class.
That’s a strong spot to be ahead of the season. If the Saints can roll over near $10 million from this year to next, it would be a major help in assisting themselves in getting out of the enormous amount of debt they’ve been wading through in recent years.
New Orleans is currently estimated to be over $53 million over the cap for next season. Once Carr’s retirement posts, his dead cap for 2026 will drop by around $28 million. That will cut the 2026 overage in half.
If the Saints then roll over around $10 million from 2025, they will be in a very manageable position when the 2026 new league year rolls around, even though they will take on some additional hits once some veteran players are expectedly moved on from after the season.
New Orleans may find themselves with just $10 – $30 million of cap space to maneuver than the typical $100 million-plus deficits they’ve had to manage in the past. The Saints are on their way out of the doldrums of the NFL’s salary cap, at least for now. That may change when the next CBA wrinkles begin to set in down the line. If nothing else, it may change the way New Orleans chooses to navigate the limits.
