Don’t expect a mass exodus for the New Orleans Saints in 2022
![New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks to running back Alvin Kamara (41) as he walks off the field in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks to running back Alvin Kamara (41) as he walks off the field in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/f8727825910db075503442fa8e44e0c3e36ff2045011aeb9825edad2ac37e1cf.jpg)
If you’re looking at the New Orleans Saints’ salary cap situation ahead of the 2022 offseason, don’t expect a mass exodus just yet.
With head coach Sean Payton stepping away, a lot of people (myself included) immediately jumped to the conclusion that there could swiftly be a mass exodus of players from the New Orleans Saints.
Not so fast on that one.
The New Orleans Saints’ 2022 salary cap situation looks horrendous at initial glance. According to Over The Cap, the Saints currently are more than $74 million in the red heading into this 2022 offseason. Yikes.
That’s certainly not the most favorable position for a team that doesn’t currently have a legitimate starting quarterback on its roster, but it also doesn’t mean that they are going to have to just cut everybody and trade everybody to get back in the green.
We saw the Saints pull off some miraculous salary cap work in the 2021 offseason as well, and that was after the pandemic caused the NFL to have to lower every team’s salary cap. This coming offseason, the cap is increasing, which makes the Saints’ situation all the more staggering.
But it’s not an impossible situation for general manager Mickey Loomis, who now has to find a new head coach in addition to asking a lot of his core players.
The Saints undoubtedly have seen this coming, which is why they have spent so much money on key core players in recent years. The contracts given out to these core players have built-in roster bonuses to help relieve cap space in situations exactly like this.
For instance, running back Alvin Kamara has a $6 million roster bonus for the 2022 season on his contract. That bonus could be converted into a signing bonus and his cap number could quickly go down from $14.5 million to $8.5 million.
Marshon Lattimore has a roster bonus at $15 million. Ryan Ramczyk has a bonus at just under $9 million.
Are you seeing how quickly this could be figured out for the Saints? And although many will disagree with the tactic of kicking this can down the road, the NFL’s salary cap will only continue to increase in the coming years and the Saints will be just fine.
They gave these roster bonuses to core players for a reason.
Now, is this all to say that there will be absolutely no salary cap casualties for the Saints in 2022? Absolutely not. For instance, the team can save over $10 million simply by letting go of cornerback Bradley Roby, who was acquired in a trade last year.
There are a variety of ways for the Saints to get in a good position salary cap-wise, and we should have all known that considering we literally just saw them do it last offseason.
They will still be an interesting team to follow in terms of looking at what guys may need to be released or what players a new coach will want around (or not). Remember the Michael Thomas-Sean Payton drama?
How much is that impacted now with a new head coach coming in? Will Thomas simply be okay coming back to the Saints or will that be QB-dependant? He’s under contract either way.
Ultimately, even though we don’t exactly know what to expect from the New Orleans Saints as it pertains to their roster decisions in 2022, what we do know is that they are not likely to be getting rid of their primary core players in salary dump trades. It could also be inferred that Michael Thomas is more likely to come back this next year a happy camper with Sean Payton departed.
Further, the Saints will be in the market for QB help in 2022. Does Jameis Winston make the most sense with Payton gone, or should they go with someone else?
Those are questions we’ll all be eager to see answered in the near future. For now, don’t expect a mass exodus away from the New Orleans Saints, at least not with their core players