:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31394871/20120728_mje_ah6_246.0.jpg)
The news was announced this afternoon, as most of the Saints brass was at the LSU Pro-Day in Baton Rouge. The Saints are now $4,839,141 under the salary cap.
This number is not taking into account the contract of newly-acquired cornerback Champ Bailey or the contract offer to safety Rafael Bush, which New Orleans retained after matching the offer sheet he had signed with the Atlanta Falcons.
Here are a few tweets related to the story:
From nola.com's Saints beat writer Larry Holder:
It doesn't appear Bailey or Bush contracts have been taken into account yet. Just Bunkley's new deal.
— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) April 9, 2014
#Saints new cap number: $4,839,141, via NFLPA.
— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) April 9, 2014
Payton said there's a lot of things that go into a paycut scenario for Bunkley. Excited he's still with the team.
— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) April 9, 2014
And from Joel Corry of the National Football Post:
Brodrick Bunkley created $2.85M of cap room for the Saints. He cut his '14 salary from $4.5M to $1.65M. He gets a $300k 4/10 roster bonus.
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) April 9, 2014
This is a great move, as the Saints are about to pay both Champ Bailey and Rafael Bush, meaning they will need all the cap room they can spare. New Orleans General Manager Mickey Loomis somehow continues his numbers wizardry.