A lot has gone wrong for the New Orleans Saints since the end of the Drew Brees-Sean Payton era and a lot of their problems can be brought back to their money issues.
When they were winning, it was easy to defend their unusual cap practices as it kept them afloat. Now that the Saints are at the bottom of the league, some decisions stick out like a sore thumb.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently ranked each team’s worst decision since the 2020 season and for New Orleans at No. 23, it had to do with an extension given to a franchise legend. Back in 2023, the Saints signed Cameron Jordan to a two-year, $27.9 million extension. The results have not been ideal. Here was what Barnwell had to say about it:
Had the Saints had a healthy cap situation, they could have let his deal play out and expire after 2023. Instead, because they needed to get their cap right in previous years, they repeatedly restructured his deal, leaving a potential dead money hit. To avoid that, they gave him a two-year deal with $14 million guaranteed at signing, with virtually all of that coming in 2024. They’ll also owe Jordan $1.5 million more in 2025. When they cut him after this season, they will still owe $24 million in dead money.
Jordan is a legend in New Orleans and will forever be loved by the team and the city. It is clear that he is not as effective as he once was and is hard to justify keeping around, though it remains to be seen whether the team will release him or if he’ll choose to retire. He has just five sacks since the start of 2023 and two of them came last week against the Washington Commanders.
