By Ross Jackson
The final days of February are approaching, which means the next phase of the NFL offseason is on the way. Along with the NFL Scouting Combine and Free Agency both rounding the corner, NFL teams will soon be given the official salary cap total of 2026.
In the process, the New Orleans Saints are set to get some very positive news. The club is now expected to be in its best salary cap health in several years.
The league already shared a memo which included a projection between $301.2 million and $305.7 million, a record high and sizable increase from 2025’s $279.2 million.
How far over the cap will the Saints be?
The current expectations are that New Orleans will be less than $10 million over the cap as the new league year (March 11) approaches.
The Saints have a reputation for being tens of millions of dollars over the cap as the compliance deadline nears. For instance, before the 2021 season, the Saints had to work to clear over $100 million in cap space.
Projections from OverTheCap.com place the team at $8.3 million going into 2026 while operating with a $303.5 million cap across the NFL. Meaning that if the league’s limit is closer to the maximum range shared in the memo, the team could be in even better shape.
How New Orleans can get under the cap
Getting cap compliant with an overage of just $8.3 million wouldn’t be a massive undertaking for New Orleans. One simple restructure without adding void years to defensive end Chase Young’s $14.83 million 2026 base salary would free up north of $10 million, putting the Saints in a positive cap state with just one move.
New Orleans has the means to create more than $60 million in simple restructures.
How much cap space could each NFL team free up with simple restructures?
1. DAL $131M
2. DET $128M
3. KC $109M
…
32. PHI $0.2M 😅Data: @Jason_OTC (02/11/2026)
A simple restructure converts payments into prorated signing bonuses spread over the remaining years of the… pic.twitter.com/knNG9kAbzB— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) February 11, 2026
Will Saints be active in Free Agency?
If the Saints cleared their maximum amount of space, the team could have more than $50 million to spend. But don’t expect them to get out of hand with their spending. General manager Mickey Loomis was clear that while the team wouldn’t have to do as much to be compliant this year, that the organization’s spending habits would take a responsible approach.
“We’ve got to be judicious,” Loomis said during the team’s end of year press conference. “We can’t just go out there and just start throwing contracts around and doing things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do. But we will have some different opportunities.”
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