The New Orleans Saints are nearing the start of one of their annual traditions: cap space gymnastics. Every offseason, the team enters significantly over the projected salary cap, and have to make several moves to become a cap-compliant franchise. This offseason is no different. While the 2026 salary cap hasn’t been set yet, New Orleans is projected to be $21.63 million over the cap.
With how routine the Saints make creating cap space, that’s a relatively low number for the franchise. New Orleans will be able to open up that much space quickly, and the team won’t even have to say goodbye to any players to do so. By focusing on a handful of the teams’ core veterans, the Saints could clear over $20 million in cap space with just four restructures.
Saints can get under the salary cap by restructuring a few veteran contracts
The four easy names for New Orleans to focus on are Cesar Ruiz, Juwan Johnson, Justin Reid, and Pete Werner. All four have multiple years left on their contract in 2026, making for some easy restructures.
Ruiz, the veteran interior linemen, has three years left on his deal, with a $14.196 million cap number in 2026. A restructure would drop that number to $7.98, creating $6.2 million in cap space. The same amount can be created by restructuring Johnson’s contract, who currently has a $13.16 2026 cap number.
Next on the list is Justin Reid. The veteran safety’s cap number for 2026 is only $11.55 million, but with a restructure, that drops down to $5.19 million. Finally, veteran linebacker Pete Werner’s 2026 cap number of $7.97 million can go all the way down to $3.94 million with a simple restructure.
Between those four, alone, that’s nearly $23 million in created cap space. That would make the Saints cap compliant, based on the projected salary cap, giving the team just $1.26 million in cap space. The work would still just be getting started for New Orleans. In order to build the roster this offseason, and be aggressive in free agency, the Saints will need far more money to acquire new players.
The good news is that the team has several more contract decisions it could make to create that space. From more restructures to extensions, to the inevitable moving on from some players, New Orleans will create a ton of cap space this offseason.