Saints 2014 Salary Cap Update

As it stands now the Saints' current cap figure (salaries of top 51 contracts + dead money) for the 2014 NFL league year is $125,317,010, confirmed by both Over the Cap and Sportrac.

Those are the facts. The rest that follows below is pure conjecture based on a projected league salary cap.

Originally, the salary cap for 2014 was expected to be around $126 million, which would have put the Saints barely under the cap. But following news yesterday from Adam Schefter that the 2014 cap may be as high as $130 million, the Saints might actually be $5 million under the cap instead.

If you're a team like the Oakland Raiders, who are $60 million under the cap and can spend willy nilly this off-season, the extra $4 million isn't that big a deal. But for a team tight against the cap like the Saints, that additional $4 million provides significant breathing room. It might mean a player that was supposed to be cut won't be anymore. Or it might mean the Saints can go after that top level free agent they thought they couldn't afford, or even sign an additional free agents.

But let's not forget the Saints will need an estimated $1.5 million in cap space to sign their rookies this year, so as of now I would expect the Saints to really have about $3.5 million to spend on free agents. Unless, of course, they cut more players or restructure a few contracts.