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 $15.5M 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)
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