New Orleans Saints Begin Cutting Salary Cap Overages By Restructuring Erik McCoy's Contract

The New Orleans Saints have begun their annual salary cap shedding by clearing $7.18 million off the books with a restructure to center Erik McCoy's contract.

NEW ORLEANS -- Ahead of the new league year, the New Orleans Saints are beginning their path to cap compliance. The NFL salary cap has not yet been officially announced, but safe expectations have the number north of $240 million, with some expecting potential a boost to the $250 million area. That would be excellent news for the Saints who are currently expected to be between $75 million to $85 million over the cap.

While the NFL world awaits the official salary cap number, the Saints are wasting no time trying to get under it. They started the work on Thursday morning. Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, New Orleans has restructured the contract of starting center Erik McCoy. 

Erik McCoy (78) prepares to block against the Philadelphia Eagles / Nov 21, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New Orleans Saints center Erik McCoy (78) prepares to block against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The restructure includes converting both a large portion of his base salary (which was previously $9.6 million) and his entire roster bonus ($500,000) into signing bonuses. From the looks of it, the team also added a void year in the 2028 season in order to spread the cap payments over five years instead of just the four that remained on his contract. 

By making this move, the Saints saved $7.18 million in 2024, dropping their overage by a significant amount. However, even in the best-case scenario of salary cap settings, the team would still be over the limit by more than $60 million, more likey still over $70 million. There is work left to be done.

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Here is what McCoy's contract restructure looks like when broken down:

Original 2024 base salary: $9,600,000
Original 2024 roster bonus: $500,000

New 2024 base salary: $1,125,000 (veteran minimum for players with fewer than 7 accrued seasons)
New 2024 roster bonus: $0

Total restructure amount: $8,975,000
Prorate amount over 5 years: $1,795,000

New 2024 total charge: $2,920,000 (new 2024 base + prorate amount)
Savings from original amount: $7,180,000

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McCoy is one of the players that makes the most sense to restructure. By doing so, the team is effectively deepening its financial investment in the player. At just 26 years of age and having been in the league only since 2019, this is doubling down on investment that makes sense. The bigger questions will come when the team has to make decisions on how to handle the contracts of veterans beyond the 30-year age mark.

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