Aftermath of Junior Galette release and what it means for 2015 Saints prospects

When the Saints drafted Hau’oli Kikaha in the 2nd round and Davis Tull in the 5th round it was for an eye for the future to give their pass rushing a boost. You see, keeping Junior Galette past 2015 was never in the plan once he blew up any semblance of doubt that he was an off the field problem. But as more issues built up the Saints decided to bite the significant financial bullet and part ways with Junior Galette now. I think Mike Triplett said it best on twitter:

What a waste: #Saints deserve to be ripped and applauded after dumping Junior Galette http://t.co/uoDVunrr8Z

— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) July 24, 2015

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The reality is detaching themselves from Galette was the only decision for the Saints. It was both necessary and pressing but it also highlights the perilous mistake of giving him such an enormous contract only to press the eject button a year later when it was most financially crippling.

What are the cap ramifications? For starters, any offer the Saints had on the table for tight end Jermaine Gresham likely had to be pulled. The Saints absorbed a $5.4 million cap hit for release Galette this year which leaves them with about $2 million in cap room, good for 32nd in the NFL. Gresham interestingly signed with the Cardinals almost immediately after the announcement of Galette’s release. That brings the Saints’ dead money to ~$27 million in 2015 and another ~$12 million in 2016. All of that 2016 dead money so far is Galette’s contract. “Dead money”, in case you didn’t know, is cap space that the Saints can’t use due to high guaranteed bonuses for players they eventually released. And $12 million is significant when you consider that it will prevent the Saints from adding two Brandon Browner type contracts/players.

So what does this mean for the Saints in 2015? For starters, I detailed what a possible Galette injury meant on the field for the Saints. As the link says, I believe the Saints are better set up than 2014 from a roster standpoint to absorb Galette missing in action. But counting on Anthony Spencer, Kikaha and Kasim Edebali to replace Galette’s pass rushing abilities is by no means an ideal situation. Tull was not mentioned in that piece, but he’s another possible prospect to consider on a suddenly pass rushing devoid roster. Now that we know Galette won’t join the party at all in 2015, the need for an immediate Kikaha/Tull impact in their rookie season is critical.

Let’s make no mistake, on the field it’s a blow. The Saints will miss the consistent pass rushing production they got from Galette. When the Vikings suspended Adrian Peterson last year, while also necessary, they were under zero illusion that it came at a major on field expense. At least with Galette the Saints will relieve themselves of off the field antics, locker room problems and run defense liability. Unlike the Vikings losing Peterson for all of 2014, losing Galette comes with some benefits. Galette was never a great fit in a 3-4 base scheme, especially on 1st and 10 against a traditional pro set. But the Saints will miss the 22 sacks Galette provided in 2 years. That’s not something that grows on trees.

Ultimately for a unit looking to rebound from a 31st overall ranking, losing talent and the best production you had is about as far from ideal as it gets. Even accounting for all his faults, we have to be realistic about the on field impact of Galette’s departure. It means the Saints are counting on the balky knee of Spencer, the balky knee and unproven Kikaha and the enormous development of Edebali in just a few months. It’s better than not having Spencer/Kikaha like last year but it’s a lot worse than having a proven double digit sack guy.

A lot is going to have to go right this season for the Saints to resolve so many question marks. I’ll leave with a parting thought that will eventually be another blog post: there is no way this team can make the playoffs or succeed unless the C. J. Spiller acquisition is a home run pickup. I believe the defense will improve, even without Galette, and the offensive line will improve as well. But the Saints have to make up for the playmaking loss of Graham and Stills. I don’t see any scenario under which that happens unless Spiller lives up to the hype. To me, he’s the most critical and realistic component to the Saints’ 2015 success. More on that later.