Saints Release Nick Easton

The Saints saved some salary cap space by releasing Nick Easton on Friday, and waived two other players.

The New Orleans Saints gained some salary cap space on Friday, as they released veteran offensive lineman Nick Easton. The move saves the team nearly $6 million, as they continue to chip away at the big deficit they're currently in. 

Easton originally signed a four-year deal with the team back in March 2019 that was worth $22.5 million. He was set to count as $6.875 million against the cap in the upcoming season. Easton played in 22 regular season games for the Saints in his two years with the team, playing in 12 in 2020. He suffered three total concussions, with the last one landing him on injured reserve in early January.

Cesar Ruiz is all but assumed to take over as the team's starting right guard. However, Easton was an important piece of depth for the team, so that will be an area they'll need to address in the offseason. The team also reworked Drew Brees' contract recently, which freed up nearly $24 million of space. They'll undoubtedly have more moves on the horizon, but so far it's nothing we weren't expecting.

There were two other moves on the NFL's transaction report, as tight ends Jason Vander Laan and Cole Wick were also waived. They were the only opt outs from the 2020 season.