The New Orleans Saints were officially eliminated from playoff contention following a Week 13 loss to the Miami Dolphins, focusing attention on what could be a very interesting offseason. 2025 was a salary cap reset year for the Saints, who are pushing through the resulting pains of operating a constant cap-conversion roster. While there are still a few more contracts to account for next season, the financial health of the Saints will be at one of its best starting points in over a decade. But is this a team looking to aggressively add just yet?

The 2026 roster currently possesses 43 contracts, however 4 of those (Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau) contain voids that will convert to dead cap without a preceding extension. This leaves New Orleans about $14M in the hole in terms of 2026 cap space as of today, so as per usual - plenty of work to be done.

The Saints currently hold 8 draft picks in 2026, including three 4th-rounders (1 is a projected comp pick) and two 5th-rounders (via Seattle). New Orleans traded away their own 4th-round pick in acquiring WR Devaughn Vele  from Denver prior to the 2025 season.

Early Offseason Questions

  • Has Tyler Shough shown enough to assume the QB1 position heading into 2026?
  • Are the Saints turning the page on notable core players (Taysom Hill, Cam Jordan, Alvin Kamara)?
  • With $91M of dead cap already allocated to the 2026 books, just how aggressive can this team be next season?

Notable Free Agents

(Current Spotrac APY Valuation)

CB Alontae Taylor ($10M)
LB Demario Davis ($9.5M)
C Luke Fortner ($7.5M)
DL Cameron Jordan ($6.1M)
TE Foster Moreau ($2.5M)
G Dillon Radunz ($2.5M)
TE Taysom Hill ($1.2M)

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5th-Year Option Decision

DL Bryan Bresee

The #29 pick out of Clemson has shown an ability to get to the QB, but probably doesn’t hold a full enough total resume to warrant a fully guaranteed option salary.

Extension Candidate

WR Chris Olave

Despite interest, the Saints elected to keep Olave through this past trade deadline, who will now head into 2026 with a fully guaranteed $15.5M salary in a contract year. The 25-year-old is as much a trade candidate as he is an extension candidate in the coming months, but is currently valuing toward a 4 year, $80M contract in our system.

Bubble Candidates

RB Alvin Kamara

Release/Pay Cut Candidate

The 30-year is set to earn $11.5M in 2026 ($3M of which is already fully guaranteed). It’s plausible that the two sides work out a renegotiated deal to remain together (and keep the void cap spread out), but for the first time in a long time, Kamara’s cap hit ($18.6M) is larger than the corresponding dead cap ($18.2M) next season.

OL Cesar Ruiz

Trade Candidate

The 26-year-old interior lineman has 2 years, $19M remaining on his contract, $2.6M of which is already fully guaranteed. Turning players like Ruiz into viable draft assets seems like the right move for the Saints in their current window. A pre-draft trade would mean $14.2M of dead cap stays with New Orleans, making it a nearly cap-neutral move.

LB Pete Werner

Trade Candidate

A 2nd-round pick out of Ohio State back in 2021, Werner has seen his starting role/snap count drop off in 2025, signifying a likely need for change from both sides in 2026. Unfortunately for the Saints, Werner’s $6.25M salary for next season became fully guaranteed this past March. New Orleans may look to retain some of that salary in order to facilitate a trade this offseason.

Potential Cap Conversions

The Saints are still gonna Saint despite the lack of winning. A full salary conversion on OLB Chase Young opens up $10.9M of room. His opposite counterpart Carl Granderson, can free up $9.3M with a simple restructure (though an extension isn’t out of the question here either). TE Juwan Johnson’s 2026 salary is fully guaranteed. Converting most of it to bonus frees up $6.3M of cap room. The same goes for S Justin Reid, who can free up $6.3M of space with a simple restructure.

Related Links
NO Saints 2026 Cap Table
NO Saints 2026 Free Agents
Spotrac's NFL Offseason Guides