By Ross Jackson
Every New Orleans Saints offseason comes with its own unique money theme. For years, the club has been well over the NFL’s salary cap limit, relying on restructures and re-worked contracts to get beyond compliance and into a spending margin. This year, with the Saints being only $8.3 million over the league’s expected $303.5 million cap, the focus turns from the money they must make up to the money they instead must spend.
In the recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there was a provision built that requires NFL teams to spend 90% of the maximum cap between 2024 and 2026 in true cash spending. The cycle begins again in 2027 for a four-year span until 2030.
Supporters of the clause say it was put into place in order to prevent profit hoarding by teams and owners while providing a long-term tanking deterrent. The rule also ensures that money is spent and that players are paid.
Critics share concerns that the rule can force teams into spending in large contracts that prove unsuccessful that they might not have invested in otherwise. The results then include potential dead cap accumulation and a requirement from owners to place large sums of guaranteed money in escrow until contracts are complete.
It’s important to remember that these funds are not accumulated by executing restructures. Instead, the amount of cash spent is the requirement. This is a key detail because the Saints were one of a few teams reportedly notified by the NFL that it must spend more than $50 million in order to be compliant with the directive.
Since 2024, per Spotrac, the Saints have spent approximately $192,945,000 including the recent re-signing of safety Julian Blackmon. In-house re-signing sans extensions count toward this spending expectation just like the acquisition of new free agents.
That number could shift depending on the structure and details of the cash amounts. But if the NFL salary cap in 2026 is going to be the expected $303.5 million, the Saints would then fall short of the 90% amount of $273,150,000 by around $80 million.
Again, these numbers are a little imprecise at the public level. But the point stands, New Orleans is going to be expected to spend in free agency.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll go out of their way to reset markets and spend frivolously. Extending players like wide receiver Chris Olave, defensive end Cameron Jordan, linebacker Demario Davis and cornerback Alontae Taylor would all get the Saints very close to their very attainable goal. Spending $50 million to $80 million as an NFL franchise is not a steep hill to climb.
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