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.
