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Now don’t freak out.
Promise me you won’t.
Do you promise?
OK.
Saints are restructuring QB Taysom Hill’s contract to create cap room. Details are great: it’s a 4-year, $140 million contract extension - but all years are voidable and it’s a mechanism to free up cap space this year, per source. It saves Saints over $7.5M against cap this year.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2021
YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T FREAK OUT! COME BACK!!!
The New Orleans Saints have “extended” quarterback/tight end/wide receiver/everything else Taysom Hill with a four-year deal that frees up extra cap space for 2021. While the “four years, $140 million” numbers might raise some eyebrows, it’s largely money that only exists on paper.
TRANSLATION:
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 14, 2021
A 1 year, $12.159M restructure contract with 4 voidable years to spread out a $9.6M signing bonus. The new deal carries an $8.4M cap hit, clearing $7.44M of space for the #Saints. https://t.co/2UR9YLpgHa
I’m far from a cap expert, but it’s my understanding that the “$140 million dollars” figure is practically irrelevant. Each year of the extension voids, so none of the money will actually be paid. But adding void years to Taysom’s contract allows for Taysom’s 2021 salary to be converted primarily to a signing bonus and then spread out over the 4-year term. Hence the $7.5 million in cap space saved this year.
These figures tell us absolutely nothing about who will be the starting quarterback in 2021, so go ahead and throw that thought out of your brain now. It does, however, tell us that Taysom is unlikely to be traded or released this offseason, as doing so (depending on the timing) could accelerate the pro-rated signing bonus that was previously spread over four years into a current year cap hit. Basically: (1) Taysom is on the Saints in 2021. (2) He’s not necessarily the starting quarterback. (3) He’s now costing the Saints less money this year to help get the Saints under the salary cap.
By general estimations, the Saints are still roughly $5 million (give or take) above the cap with two days left to make moves. With extensions possible for Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, and Marcus Williams (among others), the Saints should get under the cap with room to spare before free agency begins.
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