Saints get salary cap boost with NFL’s increase

By Ross Jackson

The New Orleans Saints’ continually improving salary cap situation just officially got better. The NFL has announced its new salary cap for 2026 and the result is a major step forward for New Orleans as it nears financial freedom.

Per the memo distributed by the league, the NFL’s 2026 salary cap will be $301.2 million, a $22 million increase from 2025. 

This is on the lowest end of the range the league sent out to teams earlier this year with a projected $301.2 million to $305.7 million estimation.

New Orleans, who will still have to do some work to get compliant with the new cap limit, has come a long way from the $100 million-plus overages of recent years. This new abundance in spending for the NFL will likely equip the Saints with around a $10 million deficit that they’ll need to make up before March 11.

That overage number can change depending on the result of voiding contracts, in-house free agency and new deals.

Luckily for New Orleans, such a gap won’t be hard to close. The Saints can free up more than $25 million with three simple moves. That would get them under the limit and give them a small surplus to begin free agency acquisition pursuits and the potential extension for wide receiver Chris Olave.

While it might not have been a $305 million cap limit for the league, this new number gets the Saints closer to making big plays in free agency than they have been in many years.