Aging Saints eating up salary cap room
01/15/2025
By Ross Jackson
There isn’t a salary cap figure that draws more eyes than that of the New Orleans Saints each and every offseason.
From exorbitant overages to crafty restructures to unexpected contract signings, the Saints are must-see action in their annual bout with the salary cap ceiling. But right now, they have a lot of work to do to finally change their outlook and get back on the right side of the situation in order to more appropriately rebuild a competitor in New Orleans.
Doing so will take another offseason or two, but they have a path to getting it done. For now, though, they’ll have to figure out how to handle their checkbook’s biggest threat, restructured contracts for players over 32 years of age or on the verge of retirement.
Here are the 2025 cap hits for five players currently over the age of 32:
QB Derek Carr – $51,458,000
DE Cameron Jordan – $20,061,000
TE Taysom Hill – $17,986,500
LB Demario Davis – $12,483,000
S Tyrann Mathieu – $11,317,000
That’s $113,305,500 invested in five players over the age of 32. That figure leaps to $125,643,821 when adding in soon-to-be-retired right tackle Ryan Ramczyk who has already reduced his 2025 base salary in preparation for said retirement.
The estimated 2025 salary cap is expected to be just north of $270 million. At that figure, that would mean that the Saints currently have 46.5% of their 2025 salary cap currently invested in those six names.
These are the contracts New Orleans must begin with in this year’s quest to get not just cap compliant, but to open up enough of a budget for themselves and their new head coach to build their roster. The Saints should be able to inject young into their roster with their draft picks, a process they actually made good progress on last offseason.
But getting these hits under control. Whether through renegotiation, restructure or pay cut (though restructures are becoming less ideal with each new year) New Orleans will be adjusting these figures this offseason.
