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Agent's Take: The 3 NFL teams facing the worst salary cap situations

By Joel Corry | Former Sports Agent

February 9, 2016 4:20 pm ET

New Orleans Saints

Salary cap overage: $11.049 Million (before start of waiver period)
Comparatively speaking the Saints are in good shape with the cap. There was a $23 million overage this time last year.

The Saints didn't waste any time by releasing five-time All-Pro guard Jahri Evans, linebackers David Hawthorne and Ramon Humber and wide receiver Seantavius Jones once the waiver period began the day after Super Bowl 50 (February 8). $3.1 million of cap room was gained from Evans, whose $1 million third-day-of-the-league-year roster bonus (March 11) and $2 million of his $3.8 million base salary were set to become fully guaranteed on February 10, the third day of the waiver period. Releasing Hawthorne freed up $2.25 million of cap space.

The departure of the four players created $6.851 million cap room collectively to bring the overage down to $4.198 million. $7.527 million of dead money (salary cap charges for players no longer on a team's roster) was generated in the process. The Saints already have $22.32 million of 2016 dead money, which includes $12.1 million from Junior Galette's release last July.

The elephant in the room is Drew Brees' league-high $30 million 2016 cap number as he enters the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2012 to become the NFL's first $20 million per-year player and reset the league's pay scale. $10.85 million of his $19.75 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed without an offset on Feb. 10.

This means the Saints wouldn't be able to reduce the guaranteed money owed to Brees in the extremely unlikely event he is released, which would leave the Saints with a $20.85 million cap charge, by the amount of his new deal with another team. In essence, Brees would receive the $10.85 million from the Saints as well as the full salary from his new contract with another club.

The 37-year-old may not be willing to do the Saints any favors with a massive pay cut in an contract extension, like Tom Brady has done with the New England Patriots. Brees had acrimonious negotiations with the Saints as a franchise player in 2012, which led to him filing and winning a grievance against the team clarifying whether franchise tags applied across teams or were specific to teams. Brees is also a former member of the NFLPA's executive committee and was a named plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL during the 2011 lockout. Realistically, $7 million to $10 million of cap space can be gained from an extension depending on the deal's structure, total and length.

An easy salary conversion can be made with Cameron Jordan's contract. $4.8 million of cap room will be created by converting the defensive lineman's fully guaranteed $6 million roster bonus (due March 13) into signing bonus.

There will be other cuts made by Saints. Cornerback Brandon Browner tweeted a couple days before Super Bowl 50 that he won't be with the Saints next season. Apparently, he has been informed of his eventual release. Browner, who signed for $15 million over three years in the offseason, set a single season NFL record in 2015 with 24 penalties.


Agent's Take: The 3 NFL teams facing the worst salary cap situations - CBSSports.com

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