MOBILE, Ala. General manager Mickey Loomis has admitted that it will be a “scary” off-season for the New Orleans Saints, who will likely have to replace Drew Brees on the substitute and could be nearly $ 100 million over the salary cap.
But Loomis has made it clear that the Saints are not going to build again after winning the last four NFC South titles.
“Listen, we have an excellent list. And I can not foresee a circumstance where we are not going to say, ‘Man, we’re going to do everything in our power to win – win now and compete for a championship,’ ‘ Loomis said during a video conference with the media while attending the Senior Bowl.
He did not discuss many details and said that at this stage in the calendar there are “still more unknowns than there is knowledge”, including:
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No official word yet as to whether Brees is indeed going to retire as he takes time to decompress with his family after his twentieth season.
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No official word on how low the salary cap will drop after the lost revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The roof could drop to $ 175 million per team after reaching $ 198.2 million in 2020, although it could have been higher.
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The Saints have not yet completed their internal evaluation of players.
So it’s too early to tell if the Saints will try to give up hanging free agents like quarterback Jameis Winston, safety Marcus Williams, defender Trey Hendrickson, defender Sheldon Rankins and tighthead Jared Cook – or whether they can the market for an expensive QB like Matthew Stafford or any other available via trade.
“All the evaluation and what happens with it has yet to be seen,” Loomis said. “We like [quarterback Taysom Hill]. We like Jameis. We liked what they did for us. But just like any position, we are going to discuss a lot over the next week or two. ‘
According to SPN’s roster management system, the Saints will currently have $ 277.8 million in salary tax for 2021, with only 43 salaries on the roster. However, they could save at least $ 13.5 million – and possibly more – if Brees retires. And they have been one of the most aggressive teams in the NFL for years when it comes to pushing the cap costs in future seasons. They can therefore continue to do so if they want to keep the current list as intact as possible.
For years, it looked like the Saints would “catch up” to the salary cap and maybe go into rebuild mode again when Brees retired. But then they reloaded a championship caliber roster around him with huge draft classes in 2016 and 2017 that include stars like receiver Michael Thomas, returning Alvin Kamara, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, attacking suit Ryan Ramczyk, Williams, Hendrickson and Rankins.
One important decision the Saints face is whether they want to take on the 2022 free agents like Lattimore, Hill and Ramczyk and Terron Armstead. Another question would be whether they would consider an instant industry to free up space from the hood and concepts like stars Jimmy Graham and Brandin Cooks did earlier.
“Look, it’s definitely going to be challenging,” Loomis said of the salary cap. “And yet I do not want to speculate on how challenging it will be until we have a better understanding of what will be available – not just for this year, but even for the year to come. So I can not really answer the question otherwise than to say: yes, it will be scary. I think it will be scary for a majority of teams in our league. “