:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66544845/usa_today_13881267.0.jpg)
The New Orleans Saints and CB Janoris Jenkins have reportedly agreed to a renegotiated contract to keep Jenkins with the Saints in 2020 with a lower cap hit.
The Saints and CB Janoris Jenkins have agreed to a renegotiated contract. A sensible move for the Saints to create cap space, as Jenkins was scheduled to count $11.25M against the cap, with a base salary of $10.25M. GM Mickey Loomis is always finding ways to create cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 24, 2020
We all know Mickey Loomis is going to create cap space any way he can, and this move is just one of those ways.
It’s unknown at this time how much cap space this restructure freed up in 2020 and how much of it was used for the re-signings of Noah Spence and Deatrick Nichols.
Check back for updates.
UPDATE MARCH 25: According to Ian Rapoport, the final two years of the Jenkins deal will not void as previously reported. Jenkins will be part of the Saints’ plans for the next three seasons, with Nick Underhill reporting his first year’s cap hit being $5.05 million as opposed to the $11.25 million he was initially scheduled to make in 2020.
Faced with a big cap number for CB Janoris Jenkins, the #Saints chose to sign him to an extension that could keep him in the fold in the future: It’s a 2-year, $16.75M extension based on new money, source said. So, 3 years, $27M overall with $10.2M guaranteed — all in 2020.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 25, 2020
The Janoris Jenkins deal has cap hits of $5.05 this season, $14.2 million in 2021, and $8.75 million in 2022, per source
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) March 25, 2020
In lieu of being voided, Jenkins’ final two years will be option years, per Underhill.
So, Jenkins basically has two option years after getting all the money he was owed for this season upfront. Saints can keep him for a $10 million base and $1.2 million roster bonus in 2021, and $5.25 million base and $500,000 roster bonus in 2022.
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) March 25, 2020
Jenkins was one of the last dominoes to fall for the Saints in terms of restructuring contracts, and for New Orleans moving forward it will give them cornerback duo of Marshon Lattimore and Jenkins for the foreseeable future.
Loomis has made quite a few moves this offseason in-house, with this being the latest. Patrick Robinson, Kiko Alonso, Terron Armstead and Michael Thomas have all restructured their contracts to massage their cap hits this year, so this is just the latest bit of housekeeping. It is notable that Jenkins is an outright extension, so the Saints were clearly impressed with what they saw in his limited audition last season.
UPDATE MARCH 23:
Details on the exact form of the renegotiated contract and the cap space created have come out.
In restructuring Janoris Jenkins' contract, the Saints lowered his cap number to $4.05M by converting $9M of his pay into a signing bonus, creating $7.2M in space. Jenkins remains a free agent after this season, with the Saints adding two void years.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 24, 2020
Adding void years to pay out a signing bonus over time is one of Loomis’s favorite moves, having done so with Drew Brees, Terron Armstead, and Michael Thomas this offseason.
I'm not mad at creating $7 million in cap space, but I am disappointed the Saints and Jenkins couldn't agree to a long-term extension to pay Jenkins in years he's playing as opposed to simply void years. https://t.co/sMfSqlO8hz
— Christopher Dunnells (@ChrisDunnells) March 24, 2020
We have only just gotten out of the salary cap nightmare of recent memory, but with the addition of all of these void years on future deals, it’s going to come back again sooner rather than later.