New Orleans Saints Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Salary Cap Rollover For All 32 NFL Teams

February 27th, 2018 at 12:17pm CST by Zachary Links

This week, the NFLPA updated its salary cap report to include the rollover amounts for all 32 teams in the NFL. The Browns, as expected, lead the league in $58.9MM in cap space rolled over from the previous season. Here is the full rundown of each team’s rollover amounts:

After the Browns, the 49ers ($56MM), Titans ($30.3MM), Jaguars ($27.8MM), and Jets ($17.3MM) boast the highest rollover amounts in the league. The Dolphins ($69K), Saints ($287K), Giants ($365K), Eagles ($514K), and the Seahawks ($547K) have the least amount of rollover. In total, teams carried over nearly $340MM from last season, good for an average of $10.6MM per club.

Kenny Vaccaro Likely To Leave As UFA

February 25th, 2018 at 8:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints have some key free agents, both RFAs and UFAs, to possibly retain. But Kenny Vaccaro looks to be on his way out of New Orleans, Larry Holder of NOLA.com writes. Vaccaro was the subject of rampant trade rumors prior to the 2017 deadline, with the Cowboys being mentioned as a team discussing a deal for the safety. Vaccaro’s Saints run may have ended with an IR trip in December. He will join a talented safety UFA contingent, one that also features Eric Reid, Tre Boston and Morgan Burnett. Vaccaro started for five seasons with the Saints and turned 28 in January.
Holder could see the Saints offering an RFA tender to neither Willie Snead nor Brandon Coleman and creating a need at wideout. An original-round tender would cost the team $1.9MM. While that would seem like an insult to Snead given his 2015 and ’16 production, he disappeared from the Saints’ offense last season after returning from an early-season suspension. The sides were in talks about an extension last summer, but Snead ended up playing on an ERFA tender. He then caught just eight passes for 92 yards; that came after two seasons of at least 895 air yards. Holder estimates the Saints will not tender Coleman but could see the sides reuniting for a lower amount. He does not envision Snead staying in New Orleans for a lower amount if the Saints non-tender him.

Latest On Saints' RFAs

February 25th, 2018 at 11:38am CST by Rory Parks

The Saints have a few interesting calls to make with respect to their restricted free agents, as Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune observes. Willie Snead, Delvin Breaux, and Brandon Coleman are all RFAs, and although Holder does not make any specific predictions, it sounds as if Snead may be playing elsewhere in 2018, but Breaux and Coleman could be back.

Saints, Drew Brees To Meet At NFL Combine

February 22nd, 2018 at 10:20am CST by Ryan Posner

Drew Brees and his representatives are set to meet with the Saints at the NFL Scouting Combine to make ground on a new deal, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The combine gets underway on March 2.

Rapoport said the two sides will look “to try to hammer out what is potentially a short-term deal” for the soon-to-be free agent. Brees would have a $18MM cap hit toward the Saints if they were not to agree on a deal before the new league year on March 14. Rapoport expects the two sides to settle on a deal in the range of $20MM-$25MM annually.

Brees expressed his desire to return to the Saints following their loss to the Vikings in the NFC Divisional playoffs. A contract that would give Brees $25MM annually would match Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in terms of average annual salary for third among NFL players, placing him behind Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford ($27MM) and 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo ($27.5MM).

Brees and Kirk Cousins serve as the two biggest names at quarterback who could potentially become free agents this offseason. Sam Bradford, Teddy Bridgewater, Case Keenum and A.J. McCarron are all set to hit the free agent market as well. While Brees appears to be the Saints’ top priority this offseason, safety Kenny Vaccaro, defensive tackle Nick Fairley and defensive end Alex Okafor are among other Saints who are due to become unrestricted free agents.

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/20/18

February 20th, 2018 at 8:51pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

New Orleans Saints

Re-signed: LS Zach Wood (ERFA)

Philadelphia Eagles

Signed: DT Winston Craig

Drew Brees, Saints Have Until Mid-March For New Deal

February 17th, 2018 at 9:44am CST by Ben Levine

March 14th is essentially the deadline for the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees to come to an agreement on a new contract, writes ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano. The final three seasons of the veteran’s contract will void on that day, and if they wish to keep Brees for another season, they’d be required to tolerate his salary and his “$18 million worth of signing bonus prorated on this year’s salary cap.”

[SOURCE LINK]

Opinion: Saints, Brees Could Compromise At $25MM/Year

February 14th, 2018 at 2:56pm CST by Zachary Links

If Drew Brees decides to play hardball, he could take control of his contract negotiations with the Saints, Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune writes. But, so far, Brees has been a good solider, saying repeatedly that he wants to retire in New Orleans and indicating that he will not test the free agent market.

In theory, things can change between now and March 14. If the Saints try to lowball the 39-year-old, Brees could threaten to test the open waters to try and regain leverage. Despite his age, Brees would almost certainly garner offers of more than $30MM per year, putting him ahead of Jimmy Garoppolo and just behind the expected annual average value of Kirk Cousins‘ next contract.

Latest On Coby Fleener

February 11th, 2018 at 12:43pm CST by Rory Parks

Last Wednesday, $3.4MM of Coby Fleener‘s 2018 base salary became guaranteed, as Nick Underhill of the Advocate points out (via Twitter). The Saints‘ tight end is under contract through 2020, but he has not become the top target for Drew Brees that many expected when he signed with New Orleans several years ago. The Saints could have saved $3.2MM against the cap by releasing him prior to Wednesday, but there is no obvious replacement on the roster, and if he has not been medically cleared following his season-ending concussion, that could have further complicated matters. It therefore looks like Fleener will be back in New Orleans in 2018.

Colts Eyeing Frank Reich, Dan Campbell

February 7th, 2018 at 12:36pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts’ head coaching search is on. Again. This time, the Colts are expected to start by requesting permission to speak with Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich and Saints assistant head coach Dan Campbell, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Reich was a hot name at the beginning of this year’s coaching cycle which makes sense considering how effective the Eagles’ offense was in 2017. However, over time, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo wound up garnering more attention from teams with HC vacancies for his role in Carson Wentz‘s development. His candidacy may also have been hurt by the fact that Doug Pederson is the play caller in Philadelphia.

Last season, the Philly offense ranked third in scoring, seventh in yards, and eighth in DVOA. The 56-year-old has worked as an NFL coach since 2008 and is perhaps best known for leading the Bills offense back from a 32-point deficit in a 1993 playoff game, After spending time with the Colts and Cardinals, Reich was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator from 2014-15 before joining the Eagles the following year.

The 41-year-old Campbell has served only as a tight ends coach or an interim head coach in his seven-year tenure as a full-time NFL assistant. Still, he was one of 12 head coaching candidates recommended by the NFL’s Career Development Advisory Panel late last year and he was a candidate for the Vikings’ OC opening. The Dolphins also interviewed him in early 2016 for their HC job before settling on Adam Gase.

Other names linked to the job include Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub.