Saints cut Emmanuel Sanders as receiver becomes newest cap casualty

The New Orleans Saints have been busy on this Wednesday morning as news of restructures, official salary cap numbers for 2021 and cuts have all been released. At the time of writing, the Saints have restructured Andrus Peat and Malcolm Jenkins’ contracts, while also signaling intent to cut linebacker Kwon Alexander.

However, there is more! New Orleans reportedly has just cut wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. There was always going to have to be sacrifices made this offseason due to the reduced cap, and Sanders was unfortunately caught in the crosshairs and has now become a cap casualty. Sanders will save the Saints about $6.6 million dollars as they slowly chip away at the deficit.

Sanders was a great fit in New Orleans in terms of culture, scheme and leadership. In 2020, Sanders stepped up in a big way when Michael Thomas missed significant time due to injury, and if it weren’t for Sanders the Saints may have been in dire straits. This will now allow players like Marquez Callaway to step up and have a larger role in the offense.

It is also possible that New Orleans is able to sign a wide receiver in free agency that would be able to fill a similar role for less money. All told, the cuts of Alexander and Sanders will save the Saints an additional $19.6 million, which means New Orleans is sitting just south of $30 million over the cap. A few more restructures and key extensions and the Saints will have once again proven that the salary cap is just a myth.

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