Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Very good article. Pretty much the same thing I have been preaching the past few months. It includes much of the same sort of factual material that I have shared to prove that salary cap issues are history and dead money is not an issue at all.

Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints

There’s a phrase that’s been on the mind of any involved fan of the New Orleans Saints and seemingly every bougie national analyst who looks down their nose at the team in the Crescent City: Cap Hell.

That nebulous threat of not being able to sign free agents or properly manage the salary cap has been hovering around Airline Drive for years now, but what many observers don’t realize is that it’s already come to pass.

Cap hell isn’t coming in the days after Drew Brees hangs up his cleats, at least not like we’re imagining it. It’s already come and is on its way out.

Life in cap hell has been the Saints ranking 31st or 32nd in salary cap space every year from 2013 to 2016. It’s been seeing huge swathes of valuable salary cap space spent on players who aren’t on the roster like Jimmy Graham and Junior Galette, or forfeiting cap space to Drew Brees until it wouldn’t be as badly-needed. But the important thing to take away is that 2017 is the year the Saints will escape cap hell.

As of writing, my projection for the 2017 salary cap is around $169.7 million, an increase from the $155.27 million it currently tops out at. Rumors from inside the NFL estimate the salary cap to rest at $166 million, but that’s a conservative guess – which has been common in the last few years.

Read the rest here

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

I really hope that's accurate.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

It is absolutely accurate. Don't listen to the idiots that do not understand cap accounting.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

I agree with what he is saying. I said last year the big contract were coming to a end or a point in which they were shedable. The one thing i will say is that we will only have 2 DT on the roster next year and Snead needs a new deal. The year after Delvin Breaux and Kenny Vaccaro need deals and Brees contract will need looked at again. And all of that will eat a chunk of cash.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

"Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe’s contract voids out if he plays less than 80 percent of snaps, which would turn into $3.2 million in savings."

Good information to know.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

i dont recall anyone saying anthing about next year or in the future we were talking about this year and the previous two before that is why this team has sufferd. it may get better here soon yes but loomis and company continue to waste money to epic proportion its unreal.i dont think they have learned anything from the problems they created in the past 3 years.why? because they continue to do the same stuff that got them in this predicament in the first place. Time will tell but the Spiller decison is just example of having my doubts they learned anything at all. next year it will more than likely be Byrd and ellerbee,laurennitis and possibly but unlikely Fleener

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

:roll:

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

we roll our eyes to you too

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Say hello to that mouse in your pocket.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Yeah, we know. They raise the cap every couple of years. And inflation keeps going up in all these contracts. All teams are under the same cap, which means wherever we rank in cap space now is what we'll rank next year. Drew's deal helped. But the cap raising doesn't mean a whole lot when you have to compete on the free agent market with teams who have more money than you.

We heard this same crap the last time they raised the cap. A lot of good that did. We're not in all out cap hell now that Drew and the Saints finally made a deal that creates some space. Good on them for that.

As far as dead money is concerned, I always say that if you need to release a player who is under performing, you can't worry about the dead money. You accept that you made a mistake and you cut your losses. But to say that dead money, in general, means nothing is inaccurate. It represents money wasted that could have been spent going forward on improving the team, that is instead floating around with players who aren't even on your team.

Nobody is perfect, and you won't always hit home runs when you sign people. That's understood. But when you lead the world in dead money it does reflect poorly on your personnel decisions.

The Galette case was different. But you can't make excuses for every one of these contracts. Unless you are the guy who wrote this article... Then you just slap a coat of sugar on it, and call it a day.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

yep, great that next year the healing begins but that does nothing for this year

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Looks like Ellerbe will be getting released, dude can't stay healthy at all.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

which sucks because when he is he is really good

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

And we can't do anything about this year, either. The cards are dealt. Now we should simply sit back and pull for our Saints. I just happen to have a bit more faith than some around here.

:bng:

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

You're right that it can't be changed, but at what point do we say enough is enough and hope we are heard in the process. Maybe it has been and maybe that's what they're doing, righting the ship. I hope so. And I always pull for the Saints!

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

The whole cap issue came about from bad, or unlucky, personnel moves. Things even out over time. It was nothing we said. The ship just righted itself.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

I don't know it was anything we said, but things do not just right themselves by themselves. Time is pretty much neutral on all things in life. The only way for things to change is for the people to change

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Great that this current "cap hell" phase has a potential ending. It really is. So thanks for the heads up.

Let's see how we go. Let's see if it makes a difference.

My hope is we have sufficient playing resources in all positions so that we do not have our fans having pre-game downers, whether or not we are constrained / restrained by cap issues. That is really what it is all about.

Ultimately I do not think money. I thinks Saints. How are they doing on the field.?

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

I believe 99% of Saints fans feel the same way, UK.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

Yep. After Ellerbe misses this week, it'll already be basically assured to be void (contract). He isn't gonna play 90+% of the snaps going forward.

Re: Salary Cap ‘Hell’ has Come and Gone for the New Orleans Saints
 

How has cap hell gone, when next season we already have the highest amount of dead money?

This off season we haven't done anything different either, we have restructured a few contracts and signed players to big contracts that we can't afford or need (Fleener)