New Orleans Saints salary cap update: Rookie class, processing moves, and free agent deals shape plan for the rest of their offseason

The New Orleans Saints are proving to be themselves during an offseason once again. They brought back Chase Young and Juwan Johnson. They've made some depth signings in free agency and upgraded at safety with Justin Reid. 

All of these moves have been while making restructures and pay cut agreements with players all offseason. New Orleans is about to garner more salary cap relief as well. 

Saints salary cap update

The Saints are expected to gain the most salary cap space of any team soon, according to OverTheCap. The retirements of both quarterback Derek Carr and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk are both set to process. 

Carr has a $20.46 million cap charge which will drop to either $13.458 million or $19.207 million depending on how the league views a signing bonus he agreed to return/not receive from the team. In either case the carryover is the same as the near $6 million difference between the two numbers would be added to the Saints cap room next season for money not earned. Carr will count for a gigantic $36.674 million on the 2026 cap.

Ramczyk had already reworked his deal to allow for this so there are almost no savings there. The team will gain just $1.25 million with his 2025 dead money at $11.08 million and his 2026 dead money at $11.98 million. The Saints should be at $30 million in cap room which will mainly be used as carryover. -- OverTheCap

Keep in mind that both Cameron Jordan and Tyrann Mathieu also took pay cuts to stay in New Orleans earlier in the offseason. Their new deals have plenty of incentives involved. 

The Saints have $22.6 million in cap space right now, but that number will expand over the next couple of days - as noted by OverTheCap.

That is a notable amount of room for a team that many expected to be dormant during free agency due to a tight salary cap situation a few months ago.

More moves coming for New Orleans?

With these moves becoming official as June begins, a potential free-agent signing for an impact player may be coming down the pike for the Saints. 

A signing at wide receiver may make some sense, but New Orleans does like their room of weapons right now. On the flip-side, adding free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. may be on the table later this summer as well, once his medicals come back clear (hopefully). They showed interest there in May. 

Could a star player be on the move to New Orleans before the draft, or are they just prepping themselves to sign a large draft class and make some depth moves to finish off their offseason?

Plus, a lot of their open cap space could roll around for next year, too. They'll have plenty more moves to make in 2026 to create more space along their roster when it comes to the cap - once again.