papz

Saints declined to tender RB Travaris Cadet, making him a free agent.
26-year-old Cadet may return at a reduced salary, but the Saints weren't willing to pay him the $1.542 million attached to the lowest possible RFA tender.

TheDeuce

I don't mean to be pessimistic here... but if Drew Brees said "Hey, I'll take less money" and the Saints F.O. doesn't take him up on that, then they should all be fired. We had to release some key pieces of our team for cap reasons that we probably would have liked to keep if we had the flexibility to do so...

Mr.Riaton

What key pieces did we release? Thomas barely saw the field last year and Lofton graded out horrible. Brees' contract is not the reason our cap is the way it is,so why should he take a pay cut? If the front office does not restructure his contract,there's probably a good reason why. The off season is not over with either,so there's still a chance they will. We as fans will never know all of the details as to what goes on behind the scenes,but I do believe our organization is doing the best they can and trying to be smart about the moves they make.

TheDeuce

You said that Brees offered to give up money, and the F.O. said no. That's ludicrous.

lee909

No top QB gives up money in the long term they get paid somehwere down the line.
We have Drew cheap for a few years and chose not to up the deal before he started breaking records

Mr.Riaton

Lol! That's not what I said...go back and read my original post.

ScottF

I think I heard Graham got traded. Jimmy, not Shane.

lee909

By Evan Woodbery, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

New Orleans Saints linebacker David Hawthorne took a pay cut to remain on the roster and help the team slide under the 2015 salary cap, according to NFLPA records.

Hawthorne's base salary was cut from $2 million to $1.19 million in 2015 and from $4 million to $1.75 million in 2016.

The newly updated records also show a dramatic pay cut for veteran receiver Marques Colston, who also agreed to restructure his contract to remain with the Saints.

Colston's base salary dips from $6.9 million to $1.445 million in 2015, according to records, and from $7.7 million to $2.65 million in 2016. It wasn't immediately clear if the team added a roster bonus to help replenish some of the funds. It's also likely that Colston's new deal included incentives to earn more.

Notably, the new records showed no changes to the contracts of veteran offensive guards Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs, who carry salary cap hits of $11 million and $9.6 million, respectively. Those totals are now second and third on the team, after quarterback Drew Brees.

NFL teams were required to be under the 2015 salary cap by Tuesday at 3 p.m. The immediate hurdle of getting under the cap has been met by the Saints, although the team must still make more room to sign draft picks and free agents in the coming weeks and months.

Hawthorne, who turns 30 in May, now appears likely to remain with the Saints for a fourth season. He signed with the team as a free agent in 2012 after four years with the Seattle Seahawks. Fellow starting linebacker Curtis Lofton was released on Sunday.

Hawthorne had a $2.5 million roster bonus due this week. It's unclear if that was altered in the renegotiation or converted to a signing bonus, which would reduce its 2015 cap burden to $1.25 million.

Colston, who will turn 32 in June, has spent his entire nine-year career with the Saints after being drafted in the seventh round in 2006. He has 9,239 receiving yards and 68 touchdowns and has been one of Brees' favorite targets over the last decade.

The NFLPA currently lists the Saints at $4.33 million under the salary cap, although that doesn't yet include Tuesday's trade of Jimmy Graham to the Seahawks, which should reduce the team's net cap room by $2.5 million in 2015.

"Two receivers to the left, Garcon to the right. Manning in the shotgun, puts Collie in motion. Looks in his direction...it's picked off! It's picked off! It's Tracy Porter again! He's runnin' free! He's gonna go all the way!

brees84