So how much of this roster will be torn down this offseason

[whodatworm23]

Saints currently sit at $275,600,000 and some change aganist the cap in 2021. Thats roughly 94,200,000 and some change over the projected cap. Needless to say the time has come for the Saints to finally pay the piper for there willingness to kick the can down the road for so long with Drew Brees on the roster.

 

The good news is that the Saints have built up a quality roster with a good young core and for better or worse have their starting QB (Taysom Hill) locked up for the 2021 season.

 

Upon further inspection most of the Saints big money players have clauses inside thier contracts allowing one type or another restructure in 2021 freeing up cap space if in fact the team opts for that option, which they may have no other choice.

 

Two players that come to mind as far as extentions go are Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk. Each have cap hits in the 10 to 11 million dollar range but both are viewed as core founndation players for the franchise moving forward. The Saints MUST come to aggreements with both these players on longterm deals allowing their 2021 cap hits to be substantially lowered.

 

Another player in this category is newly aquired linebacker Kown Alexander. With a cap hit of $13,400,000 and zero dead money there is NO WAY the Saints can afford to keep him at that price. However Alexannder has proven to be an ideal fit in New Orleans and at just 26 years old can also be viewed as a core player now especially with Demario Davis in his 30's now. I'd look for the Saints and Alexander to work out ann extention with a team friendly cap number in the 1st couple years.

 

Not everyone will be able to avoid the coming purge however... The Saints will be forced to truly reevaluate who they view as mainstays and core players of thier frannchise moving forward. Its obvious that players such as Malcolm Brown and Nick Easton will be cap casualties but what about players once viewed as core players that may not be now?

 

Sheldon Rankins once a top 15 pick for the club just. Hasn't been able to stay healthy thus far and with David Onyenmata getting extended last offseason and with young guys like Roach and Tuttle playing valuable minutes, do the Saints still view Rankins as they once did?

 

What will the decision be on Trey Hendrickson whose tied for the league lead in sacks right now? Can we even afford to resign him? Do we have to choose to move on from Marcus Davenport in favor of Hendrickson which would mean admitting to a massive draft day bust.

 

Then thier is Marcus Williams... Say what you want about Williams but a centerfielder in todays NFL with his range and ball skills is extremely coveted and he'll be a highly valued commodity on the open market. Can the Saints resign him? Can they muster the cap space to franchise him in order to get past the 2021 offseason?

 

Only time will tell... We still need to find money to sign our draft picks!

 

The Saints must get younger and cheaper but as of now were short on draft picks and are stuck with absurd contracts on older veteran players we cant get out of such as Malcolm Jenkins and Andrus Peat until the 2022 offseason.

 

We all knew this day was coming... We all knew it would be costly. The question is how bad and at what cost???

 

Thoughts...

 

WHODAT

[Mid Iowa]

Well I'm guessing Brees is gone, but that decision will be his. Either way, isn't he going to hit us for like $22mil whether he's on the roster or not?

Cam Jordan is a stud. That said, he's slowing down, and his $$ is going up. He's at nearly $19mil next season. Ouch.

Andreus Pete. Man, this guy is going to make about $11.6mill. When he's on, he's on. And when he's not, people get hurt. I'm not sure how we keep him, but we can't really let him go.
Couple him with Terron Armstead, he's going to be at $16mill+ That's a lot of cash on 2 guys who are out a lot.

Malcom Jenkins needs to restructure or go. He'll be over $12mil and he's not getting any younger.

Thomas Morestead is gone. You just don't keep a $4.5mil punter who's showing his age. They can get a serviceable punter for half that.

I'm glad I don't have Micky's job. This is going to be a headache, and the league is likely going to reduce the cap, so we could be hosed.

 

[whodatworm23]

On 12/24/2020 at 2:09 PM, Mid Iowa said:

Well I'm guessing Brees is gone, but that decision will be his. Either way, isn't he going to hit us for like $22mil whether he's on the roster or not?

Cam Jordan is a stud. That said, he's slowing down, and his $$ is going up. He's at nearly $19mil next season. Ouch.

Andreus Pete. Man, this guy is going to make about $11.6mill. When he's on, he's on. And when he's not, people get hurt. I'm not sure how we keep him, but we can't really let him go.
Couple him with Terron Armstead, he's going to be at $16mill+ That's a lot of cash on 2 guys who are out a lot.

Malcom Jenkins needs to restructure or go. He'll be over $12mil and he's not getting any younger.

Thomas Morestead is gone. You just don't keep a $4.5mil punter who's showing his age. They can get a serviceable punter for half that.

I'm glad I don't have Micky's job. This is going to be a headache, and the league is likely going to reduce the cap, so we could be hosed.

 

I think the Saints are not only in a position where they need to get cheaper, they also need to aquire assets as well. They will likely get a comp 3rd round pick for Bridgewater but will still be low on draft capitol. This front office has made a living recently trading offensive assets for draft picks ie Brandin Cooks and Jimmy Graham.

 

How about Terron Armstead? Hes high dollar now and is often injured. Still hes a top LT when healthy at a fairly young age. He will still demad high draft compensation and with the Saints avout to pay Ramczyk they could move him to LT where he played in college and target a cheaper RT in the draft.

 

This move ands much needed draft capitol anmd allows the team to get cheaper in a rough cap period for the franchise. It also might allow them to hold on to other young players such as Trey Hennderickson and Marcus Williams in the process.

[Fray32]

Have to let Hendrickson walk. I don't know that I'd want to pay him what someone else will even if the Saints weren't in dire straits financially. Marcus Williams is a guy I would hate to lose. Can't imagine Janoris staying either, unfortunately. It's going to be interesting next year certainly, Payton might just have to bite the bullet and coach an undermanned squad like Belichick this season. (Or signal to Jerry that he wants the Dallas job 👀)

[whodatworm23]

9 minutes ago, Fray32 said:

Have to let Hendrickson walk. I don't know that I'd want to pay him what someone else will even if the Saints weren't in dire straits financially. Marcus Williams is a guy I would hate to lose. Can't imagine Janoris staying either, unfortunately. It's going to be interesting next year certainly, Payton might just have to bite the bullet and coach an undermanned squad like Belichick this season. (Or signal to Jerry that he wants the Dallas job 👀)

Agree on Hendrickson but honestly at least hes been productive... Davenport has been a bust but we on the hook for. 4 mil with no cap savings so he'll be here. Alot of hard cuts gonna bbe made but I doubt Williams gets away. Think they are willing to let Jack Rabbit walk and bite the bullet on Malcolm before they let Williams walk. A 1st round corner might be the pick to pair with Lattimore. So many ways this offseason might turn.

[Saint_James]

I would rather keep Hendrickson and lose Lattimore if it came down to it.  Lattimore...I'm tired of his inconsistency.  Best corner one game, getting burned and committing fouls the next. 

The Saints ability to generate pressure and get sacks with just a 4 man rush has been a huge crutch for us all season and part of the reason for our success...while this backfield can't seem to get it together consistently. 

But yeah...this offseason is going to suck.   I think Loomis is maybe the best GM in the business, but it would be quite the magic trick if he were to keep this roster somewhat intact. 

[tyler735]

1 hour ago, Saint_James said:

I would rather keep Hendrickson and lose Lattimore if it came down to it.  Lattimore...I'm tired of his inconsistency.  Best corner one game, getting burned and committing fouls the next. 

The Saints ability to generate pressure and get sacks with just a 4 man rush has been a huge crutch for us all season and part of the reason for our success...while this backfield can't seem to get it together consistently. 

But yeah...this offseason is going to suck.   I think Loomis is maybe the best GM in the business, but it would be quite the magic trick if he were to keep this roster somewhat intact. 

Same here. Cam Jordan isn't getting any younger, and Davenport hasn't taken the next step we've been looking for to become a high end pass rusher. Trey Hendrickson has been an elite pass rusher this season, I'd think we lock him up long term or franchise tag him, and if we can't make it work with Lattimore, we let him go. Guessing Lattimore will ask for far more money then he is worth.

[whodatworm23]

1 hour ago, tyler735 said:

Same here. Cam Jordan isn't getting any younger, and Davenport hasn't taken the next step we've been looking for to become a high end pass rusher. Trey Hendrickson has been an elite pass rusher this season, I'd think we lock him up long term or franchise tag him, and if we can't make it work with Lattimore, we let him go. Guessing Lattimore will ask for far more money then he is worth.

I dont know guys... Hennderickson is a solid player and is having a quality season rushing the passer but he still bites on RPOs and boots soooo bad vs the run with pass rushing only on his mind.  Id love to keep him but he is flawed despite the sack numbers.

 

Lattimore... Young corner who follows the opposing teams top option week in and week out and has been very good at it. I aint giving that up!

 

Sure hes inconsistant... Hes got the top assignment on the back end every week. 

[tyler735]

48 minutes ago, whodatworm23 said:

I dont know guys... Hennderickson is a solid player and is having a quality season rushing the passer but he still bites on RPOs and boots soooo bad vs the run with pass rushing only on his mind.  Id love to keep him but he is flawed despite the sack numbers.

A bit of a late bloomer, but his pass rush is elite this year. I can deal with him not being as good against the run if he is putting up the kind of numbers he has been. It's not just sacks though, he is pressuring QB's at crazy rate too. He even forced the best QB in the NFL to make mistakes with his constant pressure.

Quote

Lattimore... Young corner who follows the opposing teams top option week in and week out and has been very good at it. I aint giving that up!

 

I'd love to be able to keep him too, but he might price himself out of his worth to our team with the cap situation.

Quote

Sure hes inconsistant... Hes got the top assignment on the back end every week. 

I think an elite pass rush can mask some deficiencies in the secondary. I don’t think it's a coincidence that our defense started playing excellent when our DL starting putting in some dominant games.

Edited December 29, 2020 by tyler735

[whodatworm23]

17 hours ago, tyler735 said:

A bit of a late bloomer, but his pass rush is elite this year. I can deal with him not being as good against the run if he is putting up the kind of numbers he has been. It's not just sacks though, he is pressuring QB's at crazy rate too. He even forced the best QB in the NFL to make mistakes with his constant pressure.

 

I'd love to be able to keep him too, but he might price himself out of his worth to our team with the cap situation.

I think an elite pass rush can mask some deficiencies in the secondary. I don’t think it's a coincidence that our defense started playing excellent when our DL starting putting in some dominant games.

I hate players who play huge in a contract year... Not that Trey can't but if we were to keep him at the cost it would cost, those numbers can't dip. Thats what hed be getting paid for. Not sure Im willing to bet on his ability to be consistent with this level of play... Its tough cause i do like the kid. Is this who he is or is he just playing out of his mind in a make or break season?

 

Still... I do believe the Saints can keep Ram, Lattimore, Williams and Hendrickson this offseason which would be wise as all are young core players entering their prime. In order to do it though we will need to cut/trade many older veterans and get younger with draft picks as we redistribute the wealth within the cap.

[Raves]

I wouldn't give Hendrickson more than 6-7 mil/yr as he's strictly a pass rush specialist at this point and Lattimore I'd probably top out at 8-10 mil/yr as a #1 CB, even an inconsistent one, is hard to find.

[tyler735]

39 minutes ago, whodatworm23 said:

I hate players who play huge in a contract year... Not that Trey can't but if we were to keep him at the cost it would cost, those numbers can't dip. Thats what hed be getting paid for. Not sure Im willing to bet on his ability to be consistent with this level of play... Its tough cause i do like the kid. Is this who he is or is he just playing out of his mind in a make or break season?

While I tend to agree with that line of thinking in several cases. Hendrickson isn't really that type of player. For example, a guy like Albert Haynesworth who is basically the poster child for this, was given several years worth of chances to show he could be a high end player prior to his contract year (due to being drafted so high) before blowing up statistically in his contract year, and then losing interest after getting paid. 

With Hendrickson, he has been put in a tough spot. Obviously Cam Jordan has one side locked down. On the other side guys like Okafor, Kikaha, and Davenport have taken significant snaps on the other side. Hendrickson hardly got a chance to show what he can do up until last season especially with the significant investment the team made with drafting Davenport. It was obvious last year in his limited snaps ( only 38% of our snaps) that he had some legitimate pass rush ability. He was still able to account for 5.5 sacks (including sack in playoffs) and managed to get 19 QB pressures in that limited game time. 

Hendrickson is a guy that has a nearly identical athletic profile to Marcus Davenport in terms of combine numbers, Davenport was a guy throughout the draft process that was hailed as having comparable measurables to Von Miller. In other words, Hendickson has pretty much developed into what we had hoped Davenport would become. I don't think this year is an anomaly given his production when given chances last year. There is no work ethic concerns that I have seen regarding Hendrickson, but much like Davenport, he was a bit raw coming out, and it looks like he has put in the work to hone in his skills to be a high end pass rusher. As I already mentioned in previous posts Hendrickson is right at the top of the league in Sacks and QB Pressures this season. Finding that caliber pass rusher is no easy task. The power on his bull rushes is just incredible:

39 minutes ago, whodatworm23 said:

Still... I do believe the Saints can keep Ram, Lattimore, Williams and Hendrickson this offseason which would be wise as all are young core players entering their prime. In order to do it though we will need to cut/trade many older veterans and get younger with draft picks as we redistribute the wealth within the cap.

 

I'd love it if we could find a way to keep these 4 players. I'd imagine Loomis will be backloading several contracts much like the Kamara one if these guys are to come back.

[whodatworm23]

31 minutes ago, tyler735 said:

While I tend to agree with that line of thinking in several cases. Hendrickson isn't really that type of player. For example, a guy like Albert Haynesworth who is basically the poster child for this, was given several years worth of chances to show he could be a high end player prior to his contract year (due to being drafted so high) before blowing up statistically in his contract year, and then losing interest after getting paid. 

With Hendrickson, he has been put in a tough spot. Obviously Cam Jordan has one side locked down. On the other side guys like Okafor, Kikaha, and Davenport have taken significant snaps on the other side. Hendrickson hardly got a chance to show what he can do up until last season especially with the significant investment the team made with drafting Davenport. It was obvious last year in his limited snaps ( only 38% of our snaps) that he had some legitimate pass rush ability. He was still able to account for 5.5 sacks (including sack in playoffs) and managed to get 19 QB pressures in that limited game time. 

Hendrickson is a guy that has a nearly identical athletic profile to Marcus Davenport in terms of combine numbers, Davenport was a guy throughout the draft process that was hailed as having comparable measurables to Von Miller. In other words, Hendickson has pretty much developed into what we had hoped Davenport would become. I don't think this year is an anomaly given his production when given chances last year. There is no work ethic concerns that I have seen regarding Hendrickson, but much like Davenport, he was a bit raw coming out, and it looks like he has put in the work to hone in his skills to be a high end pass rusher. As I already mentioned in previous posts Hendrickson is right at the top of the league in Sacks and QB Pressures this season. Finding that caliber pass rusher is no easy task. The power on his bull rushes is just incredible:

 

I'd love it if we could find a way to keep these 4 players. I'd imagine Loomis will be backloading several contracts much like the Kamara one if these guys are to come back.

Gonna be tough guys... Were my cap guys at? Lol

 

I been racking my brain and between extentions, restructures, cuts annd even trades I only got 88.5 mil of our 95 mil decifict cut down. Still not signing draft picks, free agents or retaining our own FAs.

 

Mickey got his work cut out for him... It dont look pretty!!!

[Mid Iowa]

3 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

Gonna be tough guys... Were my cap guys at? Lol

I been racking my brain and between extentions, restructures, cuts annd even trades I only got 88.5 mil of our 95 mil decifict cut down. Still not signing draft picks, free agents or retaining our own FAs.

Mickey got his work cut out for him... It dont look pretty!!!

I'm guessing they're going to be reworking a boatload of existing contracts.
And yes, there are going to be some jaw dropping moves.

On 12/26/2020 at 6:59 PM, whodatworm23 said:

How about Terron Armstead? Hes high dollar now and is often injured. Still hes a top LT when healthy at a fairly young age. He will still demad high draft compensation and with the Saints avout to pay Ramczyk they could move him to LT where he played in college and target a cheaper RT in the draft.

I mentioned Armstead in my initial comments. Between him and Pete, they're going to account for a boatload of our cap space, and neither of them have played a complete season in their entire careers. Whereas Ramczyk has only missed 1 game in 4 years, and Erik McCoy has yet to miss a game in his 2 years. If we can keep guys like these 2 running clean, we can build around them!

[whodatworm23]

3 hours ago, Mid Iowa said:

I'm guessing they're going to be reworking a boatload of existing contracts.
And yes, there are going to be some jaw dropping moves.

I mentioned Armstead in my initial comments. Between him and Pete, they're going to account for a boatload of our cap space, and neither of them have played a complete season in their entire careers. Whereas Ramczyk has only missed 1 game in 4 years, and Erik McCoy has yet to miss a game in his 2 years. If we can keep guys like these 2 running clean, we can build around them!

I underatand that we been kicking the can down the road with Brees and trying to give him a championship roster as long as hes here... I just hope it dont come at the cost of half our 2017 draft class.

 

Lattimore and Ramczyk will likely get back loaded extentions and Marcus Williams is a guy I know the Saints love and want to keep. Trey Hendrickson however may be a bit of a suprise even for the Saints and if they want to keep him it may force there hand on some other players such as Sheldon Rankins and Marcus Davenport down the line. 

 

Personally Saints fans need to understannd that this is not going to be a championship roster next year and the Saints MUST invest in thier young core homegrown talent annd build back around that. Players such as Sanders, Alexander, Brown, Cook, Murray, Easton, Jenkins and many more high cost vets need to go and maybe... Sadly, some aging high cost veteran Saints home grown talent like Armstead, Rankins, Peat might have to be cut or traded in order to get us in a position to solidify the future of the roster.