Perhaps Mickey Loomis already saw this coming, but I certainly didn't, so the news that broke today that the NFL salary cap is jumping about 5%, or $7 million, to $130 million is a huge boost. Here's the tweet that broke the news of this possibility:
NFL's salary cap now projected to rise to about $130 million, up 5 percent from $123 million last year, per league sources. More $ for all.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 20, 2014
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With this news the Saints will go from about $3 million under the cap to $10 million under. That means they could franchise Jimmy Graham as a tight end and sign all their draft picks and remain under the cap without having to do anything in terms of re-structuring or cutting players. This also possibly means they can retain Zach Strief and give him a competitive market value deal if they can reach a long term deal with Graham that isn't too much of a hit in year one.
This doesn't mean…
the Saints won't have to maneuver things around, but $7 million extra in space is a lot. Of course that's $7 million more in cap for everyone, so that benefits not just the Saints but other teams. It also makes it more likely other teams will be able to retain their top talent, so I know Carolina appreciates this news with regards to Greg Hardy and so on. On the flip side it also means a more tempting market with lots of cash to throw around for free agents.
The reality of the Saints' situation is that work still needs to be done because with Jimmy Graham, Zach Strief, the possibility of adding free agents, retaining other key players, and signing draft picks this will not be a cheap offseason at all. The Saints need every bit of cap help they can get, but $7 million extra makes it a whole lot easier. That said, Jimmy Graham's camp is also aware of this news and it will motivate them to push the envelope for more money. Now more than ever I see Graham being franchised for the duration as a very real and distinct possibility.
My simple math (which can be grossly inaccurate) suggests the Saints can get over $20 million under the cap now (!!) with re-structures on the deals of Jahri Evans, Marques Colston, Ben Grubbs and Brodrick Bunkley. That's all it would take. If that's the case, and assuming Jimmy Graham can be franchised as a tight end, I believe they could re-sign Joe Morgan, Will Herring, Luke McCown, Parys Haralson, Ramon Humber, Rafael Bush (at 2nd round tender), Jed Collins, and Tom Johnson, sign all their draft picks, and still have about $5.5 million in cap room to play around with to re-sign Zach Strief, Brian de la Puente, and/or pursue free agents. Cut Lance Moore and they'd have about $8 million to play around with.
This offseason just got a lot more fun!
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