The time for offseason posts and articles is upon us and with 5 games left in the regular season that’s a really depressing fact. But with the playoffs a virtual impossibility at this point, we have to start coming to terms with the looming changes. With that said, here are five contracts to look very closely at:
Sean Payton
Payton’s current deal runs through the 2017 season, so he is under contract and unless he gets fired or moved with compensation. The rumors of Sean Payton leaving continue to heat up as Jason Cole called Payton to the Dolphins a “Ready-Made Deal“. The NFL Network already suggested in October that Payton was open to a change. After that report, there was this tweet:
If Sean Payton wanted to be a coaching free agent after this year, I’m told the #Saints would be inclined to let him out of his contract.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 8, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThis is why the Saints would be crazy to fire Payton. They could land a couple picks, minimum, including a first rounder for him. This all assumes Tom Benson remains healthy and doesn’t lose the team to Rita Benson in court. Payton apparently has an escape clause if there’s a change in ownership. Definitely something to watch.
Drew Brees
Brees has one year remaining after this season on his 5 year $100 million deal. Brees’s deal was tweaked in September to give the Saints some cap flexibility and it added $2.6 million more in dead money for 2016. This tweet gives some insight into how fast things could happen:
The Saints will need to make a quick decision on Drew Brees. $10.875M of $19.75M ’16 base salary is GTD on 3rd day of waiver period (2/10). — Joel Corry (@corryjoel) September 30, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Brees has a cap number of $30 million next year and there is no way the Saints will allow him to take up that much space. Cutting him would produce $20 million in space, but $10 million in dead money. Because of this, the most likely scenario is an extension which significantly lowers his cap number in 2016 and gives the team a lot of financial flexibility. You can’t rule out a trade or an outright cut, though, if the Saints are intent on a full rebuild.
Brandon Browner
Browner has a cap figure of $6.3 million next year and as bad as he’s played you have to think the Saints will at least consider shedding themselves of his deal. More likely they will stomach it for another season and unload him in 2017, but they can save close to $1 million in cap space this offseason by getting rid of him. That means close to $5.5 million in dead money, though. With a trio of Delvin Breaux, Keenan Lewis and Damian Swann they feel pretty good about, maybe they will unload Browner. They could approach Browner about lowering his deal, too, but I don’t view him accepting that as a very likely scenario.
Jahri Evans
This is a challenging one because he counts $8.2 million against the cap and represents a savings of only $1.1 million. That is A LOT of dead money and would be hard to stomach. I feel like because of this, the most likely scenario is that Evans stays and re-works his contract again. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or if he starts next season, though. The Saints need to get new guards. But from a financial perspective, the Saints won’t see much benefit releasing Evans. They may decide they are better off absorbing his contract and taking the hit in 2016. It’s worth watching how he plays to end the season because it will definitely factor into the decision.
Marques Colston
Shedding his contract seems like a done deal. Unless he wants to accept low money to return, I think the odds of Colston returning are very small. He counts $5.9 million against the cap next season and the Saints can give themselves $3.2 million in savings by releasing him. That means I think the Saints could insult him by offering him a $2.5 million contract for next season, reducing his deal by $3.4 million to stay. If Colston doesn’t accept that, then they’re better off cutting him and saving $3.2 million. Unless Colston is open to playing for $3.2 million less than his deal, he’s gone. I honestly wonder if the Saints would even want him back for more cap relief.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
