What can the Saints do to unload Junior Galette?

After our friends at Canal Street Chronicles dropped an investigative bomb on Junior Galette, let there be no more doubt that this video below is of him.

I think I speak for most Saints fans at this point when I say it won’t be soon enough if the team can part ways with Galette. He’s been a blossoming player on the field with serious pass rushing ability but he’s becoming such a liability off of it that it’s not worth the trouble. He’s an explosive liability that has become a PR nightmare. And when Sean Payton has gone through so much trouble to improve the team’s leadership and invest in high character draft picks this offseason, parting ways with Galette is the next clear step in that direction.

I explain the cap ramifications of cutting Junior Galette now in this post. Based on the finances the Saints cannot and will not cut Galette now. I think it’s safe to assume anything short of the sack record will send him packing in 2016, though. In the meantime, the Saints can either suspend Galette from the team with pay or they can sit back and watch the NFL possibly suspend Galette.

What happens if the Saints suspend Galette with pay:

This is similar to what the Panthers did with Greg Hardy and the Vikings did with Adrian Peterson last year. He would basically be on his own to deal with the fallout of this bad publicity until such time as his review process with the NFL is settled, or until such time as the Saints decide they would tolerate having him back around. This is unlikely for two reasons. One, Galette is injured and if the Saints still envision the slightest possibility that he might play and help the Saints in 2015, they’ll want to monitor his rehab to ensure it goes properly. Two, the Saints already seem to have taken the route of letting the NFL handle any discipline. Both of these cases are not as clear cut as Hardy/Peterson. One was filmed in 2013 and so far involves no charges. The other case has already been dropped and has circumstantial evidence.

What happens if the Saints let the NFL handle any discipline:

This seems to already be happening as the NFL has a planned meeting with Galette at the end of the month. Whether or not this 2013 video will also make the agenda as a topic of discussion is unknown. If you look at these two cases in isolation, one is a video of two years ago with no charges (yet) and the other seems to have been swept under the rug. It seems like avoiding suspension in each incident individually would be possible. But then you add them both together, plus the smoking gun of a video showing Galette whipping a woman in plain sight with a belt… and top it off with Goodell having the authority to do whatever he wants. I think a suspension is likely. If/when that happens, the Saints would get a prorated salary cap break. In other words, say Galette gets a 4 game suspension, the Saints would get 25% relief from his cap hit. That doesn’t help much and it’s not like the Saints would want to spend that money on someone else. It also wouldn’t carry over to 2016. But if there was a veteran out there that wanted a little extra money over the minimum, this could in theory give the Saints more room to sign them.

Can the Saints just void Galette’s contract?

Not without eating his already paid ~$10 million signing bonus. The only way his contract could become “not guaranteed” is if he’s arrested and convicted. The Saints could then void his guaranteed contract much like the Patriots did with Aaron Hernandez. This doesn’t seem like a likely outcome, either.