The New Orleans Saints will be forced to make some tough roster decisions following the 2020 season.

The New Orleans Saints brought Drew Brees back on a two-year deal and that means the team will be going all-in for a Super Bowl in 2020 and ’21. Yet Brees also carries a $36 million cap hit in 2021 and Alvin Kamara also needs an extension if the team wants him as part of the offense moving forward.

The Saints are projected to be way over the cap in 2021 and several players will end up being cut simply because of financial reasons. This is not a guess, but a reality for a team that has handed out plenty of major contracts with a few more due to others.

The good news for the team is that they are under the cap and all set for the season in 2020. The front office should already have an idea of players who could be cut and every game will essentially serve as an audition for those players to keep their job following the season.

Let’s take a look at three players who stand out as cap casualties following the 2020 season.

3

Emmanuel Sanders

WR

Emmanuel Sanders joins the Saints after a brief stint with the San Francisco 49ers that saw him nearly win his second Super Bowl. One pass from Jimmy Garoppolo that was just off the mark could have made the difference and made Sanders a hero. Alas, he is now with the Saints.

The focal point in the receiving corps is without a doubt Michael Thomas. He will once again receive a majority of the targets and is under contract through 2024.

Sanders just signed a two-year deal and is a $4 million cap hit in 2020. That figure then jumps up to $10 million in 2021 when Sanders will be 34 years old. His dead cap number is $4 million that year and the Saints will likely look at those $6 million in savings as a necessity.

Having Thomas makes just about every other receiver on the roster expendable. The team has a long list of receivers behind Thomas and Sanders on near-minimum deals who can be plugged into the offense. The veteran Sanders would keep his job in an ideal world, but the Saints just can’t afford him and that backloaded cap figure.

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Looking beyond the biggest names on the roster, the New Orleans Saints have built a talented squad on both sides of the ball. With skilled receivers, a lockdown secondary and ferocious front line, there is little room to penetrate the starting lineup for those who find themselves on the outside of it.

With multiple big contract decisions coming in 2021, that means many New Orleans players who are receiving compensation for riding the bench may find themselves without a job. Here are three of them.

Three players who won’t be on the Saints roster after 2020 season:

Nick Easton of the New Orleans Saints (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

3. LG — Nick Easton 

New Orleans recently signed Easton to a four-year, $23 million extension, hoping to find a satisfactory replacement for center Max Unger. They quickly lost out on their investment, however, as rookie guard Erik McCoy took over the starting role and left Easton on the bench, despite receiving a hefty salary. Easton played 10 games in 2020, not as a center, but filling in for the injured Andrus Peat at guard. You could argue he struggled at playing out of position, but Easton never did enough to assert his role on the line above Will Clapp. That does not bode well considering New Orleans has found their man at center and Peat is returning to health. For a sixth man on the offensive line, the Saints can suffice with other men on their roster not named Nick Easton. They would save a great deal in the process as well.

Despite Larry Warford’s departure, the Saints have also already invested into their offensive line, signing Andrus Peat to an extension and drafting Cesar Ruiz. There is little incentive to hold onto Easton as a bench piece, meaning New Orleans may let him go in the offseason.

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Jadeveon Clowney could make the Saints the Super Bowl favorites.

The New Orleans Saints already possess one of the better defensive lines in the NFC, featuring Marcus Davenport and Cameron Jordan, just to name a few. And despite their limited cap room at the moment, they’ve been linked with Jadeveon Clowney, who would take the Saints’ pass rush from good to elite in 2020.

The Saints estimated top-51 cap space sits at just $8 million, per Spotrac, and that alone won’t be enough to persuade Clowney to take his talents to the Bayou, even should he hope to take a discount to compete right away.

Could the New Orleans Saints sign Jadeveon Clowney?

Per Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, the Saints are among the teams Clowney favors at this point in the offseason. Through months of exhausting negotiations, Clowney is no closer to signing than when this process began in February, as teams have shown little flexibility in potential long-term offers for the former No. 1 overall pick. There is some wiggle-room on a short-term deal, but as the Browns found out the hard way, that’s not necessarily in Clowney’s best interest. However, a one-year deal is about the only way the Saints can feasibly make this work.

The amount of money the Saints have tied into future contracts is concerning, but such is the case for any win-now franchise with a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback on the wrong side of 40. Drew Brees is year-to-year and signed to the most expensive contract on the team ($23 million cap hit).

That limits how much the Saints can build around him, and it’s the same reason they could be in a financial dilemma with Alvin Kamara moving forward. Adding Clowney to that mix on a deal of longer than one season wouldn’t help matters, and it’s likely why New Orleans hasn’t investigated such a possibility already.

As much potential as Davenport has alongside Jordan, he’s not the same overwhelming force as Clowney at this stage of his career. Assuming Clowney is fully healed from his core muscle injury this past season, the Saints could expect his sack and quarterback pressures numbers to increase dramatically and thus help Davenport take the next step in his development.

While it’s an appetizing thought, the only way the Saints can make this deal a reality is if Clowney is willing to take dramatically less money, or if he’s let his guard down on a short-term contract. If it’s the latter, New Orleans won’t be the only team interested.

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New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins doesn’t feel safe returning to the gridiron this fall.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, sports are slowly trying to get going again. The NFL didn’t have to put their season on hold due to their season ending in February, but normally OTAs begin in the spring and training camps start up at the end of July with the preseason games starting in August and the regular season kicking off the week after Labor Day.

While the NFL still has a normal schedule planned for the 2020 regular season, it’s not a crazy thought for anyone to think the season might not go on as planned.

Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins said in an interview with CNN that the NFL is a non-essential business and he doesn’t feel safe playing in 2020.

“We have over 2,000 players, even more coaches and staff. We can’t do that,” Jenkins said. “So we’ll end up being kind of on this trust system, the honor system, where we just have to hope that guys are social distancing and things like that. And that puts all of us at risk, not only us as players and who’s in the building, but when you go home to your families. You know, I have parents that I don’t want to get sick.

“And I think until we get to the point where we have protocols in place, and until we get to a place as a country where we feel safe doing it, we have to understand that football is a nonessential business. And so we don’t need to do it. And so the risk has to be really eliminated before we — before I — would feel comfortable with going back.”

Jenkins isn’t wrong with his comments about how it’ll be tough to make sure every player in the league is social distancing. NFL teams have bigger rosters and more coaches than the NBA and that in itself is going to make it difficult.

One of the biggest problems in most sports is that it’s nearly impossible to social distance during a game. Football is no exception to that rule, as in order to tackle someone, you have to obviously be close to that player. Every snap has players very close to each other and that’s how the virus is easily spread.

Jenkins also said in the interview that the virus would really need to be contained before he’d consider playing. That’s not looking to be the case right now, as some states have seen massive spikes in positive tests. People are already looking ahead to the second wave when the first wave hasn’t even finished yet.

Coronavirus has put the sports world on hold and while the NFL wasn’t immediately affected by it, the supposed second wave that could hit when the temperatures drop this fall, could most definitely make things complicated for the NFL. It’s already forced teams to hold training camps at their own facilities and there’s a good chance that fans aren’t allowed in stadiums for the duration of the 2020 season.

People might not like Jenkins’ comments about football being non-essential, but he’s absolutely right. We can all live without football (even if we’d rather not) and if it’s not safe for players to be out on the field in close quarters, then putting the season on hold might be best.

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Despite throwing a league-high 30 interceptions last season, Jameis Winston’s confidence has never wavered.

Jameis Winston may be taking a backseat role in New Orleans, but he still possesses the confidence of a former No. 1 overall pick.

Winston’s role in Tampa Bay as a turnover machine in Bruce Arians’ offense revealed a need to grow as a decision-maker, something he’ll have the opportunity to do behind the always-reliable Drew Brees in the coming league year.

For now, however, Winston is looking forward to proving his doubters wrong, despite throwing a league-high 30 interceptions last year. Maybe it’s his usual swagger, or the LASIK surgery talking, but Winston still assumes he’s on the right track to one day be immortalized in Canton.

Saints QB Jameis Winston is as confident as ever, but should he be?

Winston’s arm has rarely been a question mark. Rather. it’s his insistence to try and fit the ball into tight windows — and often failing to do so — which led to his departure from Tampa Bay.

His past failures are not lost on him, either, as Winston is willing to embrace change in New Orleans, at least on a short-term basis. Not to mention, his one-year deal worth just over $1 million forces him to do so.

The Florida State product will be competing with Taysom Hill for backup reps, and while the Saints value Hill, Jameis could have the inside track on the job thanks to Sean Payton’s insistence in using Hill in other roles. Winston, meanwhile, is purely a backup quarterback, and one of the best the NFL has to offer, turnovers be damned.

Whether he can ascend the charts to legend status remains to be seen — and seems rather unlikely without a significant change in approach. Yet, confidence will never be an issue with Winston, which is why he’ll continue to get chances in this league based purely on potential.

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In a time of need for families nationwide, New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas has stepped up in a big way.

While New Orleans Saints wideout Michael Thomas has been at the center of attention after initially disagreeing and eventually making amends with teammate Drew Brees over his comments related to kneeling during the national anthem, the Pro Bowl wideout hasn’t stopped his generous actions in the Bayou community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a large number of Americans economically devastated. As a wealthy man in the community, Thomas has opted not to sit on his fortune but to give back to those in need.

Saints WR Michael Thomas donates large sum of money to RIP Medical Debt.

Thomas agreed to donate $2.3 million to RIP Medical Debt, an organization helping alleviate families’ financial concerns as their loved one fight for their lives.

More good work: #Saints star receiver Michael Thomas has partnered with RIP Medical Debt and has made a donation that will wipe out approximately $2.3M of medical debt for economically challenged families in the greater New Orleans area.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 8, 2020

“I’m honored to support my community in this way and make an impact in the city that’s been so welcoming to me from the minute I came here,” Thomas said in a statement. “I hope these families receive a little relief in knowing their medical bills have been taken care of during these very difficult times in our country.”

This is far from the first time Thomas has done great work in the community. Just this May, Thomas donated 3,000 meals to health care workers directly involved in combatting COVID-19. If there’s anything we can learn from the Ohio State product, it’s to always got the extra mile to make an impact. While Thomas has the financial ability to make large contributions, enough of us together can make a similar difference, especially during times of need.

As coaches and players around the NFL begin to return to facilities, Thomas hasn’t forgotten about the common folk still struggling through one of toughest times in recent American history.

Next: Michael Thomas shows support for Drew Brees after he called out Donald Trump

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Shaq sent a powerful message to Saints players and coaches to make sure the team is not divided

Ever since Drew Brees dropped his controversial comments about players kneeling during the National Anthem, it felt like one of the seemingly strongest locker rooms in the NFL was headed towards a nasty rift.

Fortunately for the Saints — and for the greater good — Brees has issued multiple apologies and his teammates with his third being an acknowledgment of his wrongheadedness and a direct shot at Donald Trump. Teammates like Michael Thomas and Malcolm Jenkins, have come out in full support of Brees and it appears a disaster of the soul in New Orleans has been avoided.

Things were so dicey last week that at one point Shaquille O’Neal got involved.

Shaq hopped on a Zoom call with Saints players and coaches recently and used a terrific Kobe Bryant analogy to get his main message across.

Shaq compared his relationship with Kobe to what the Saints need to avoid

Here’s what Shaquille O’Neal told #Saints players during their emotional zoom meeting last week… pic.twitter.com/EKJ4ktA9dq

— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) June 8, 2020

In his talk with the team, O’Neal said he and Bryant could have won five more titles together if they didn’t let outside influences get to them. The two were a powerful duo, one of the best the NBA has ever seen, but off-the-court drama really did divide them.

This is what O’Neal doesn’t want to see happen between the Saints and their players. Right after Brees’ initial comments made their way to Twitter, several of his New Orleans teammates blasted him. Jenkins even voiced his anger in an emotional Instagram video. Some analysts out there were even calling for Brees to retire.

Since then, however, things have been flipped and the Saints as a whole appear to be closer than ever.

pic.twitter.com/gG1XXwgZN4

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) June 6, 2020

Add Shaq’s latest speech to the mix and Saints fans have to be buzzing right now. This team has Super Bowl aspirations and it doesn’t look like anything will come in their way from fighting for a return trip to the big game.

The post Shaq used Kobe Bryant analogy to inspire New Orleans Saints players to remain united appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Michael Thomas has officially forgiven Drew Brees after his comments about national anthem protests. 

Throughout the week, tension had grown inside the New Orleans Saints locker room after future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees said he didn’t support players kneeling during the National Anthem.

Since the clip of Brees making that statement surfaced, however, he’s released multiple apologies on social media and said he has worked closely with his teammates to gain a better understanding of the situation as a whole.

Brees took things one step further on Instagram, posting a passionate message in response to Donald Trump calling him out for not sticking with his original thought. In that message, Brees said he now understands kneeling during the National Anthem has never been about disrespecting the flag, but is more about protesting police brutality and racial injustices in the United States.

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

To @realdonaldtrump Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities. We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when? We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities. We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us.

Una publicación compartida por Drew Brees (@drewbrees) el 5 de Jun de 2020 a las 7:10 PDT

After Brees delivered that message, All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas, who himself was disappointed in his quarterback, showed love to him with a tweet of his own.

There were no words needed for the photo Thomas decided to send out.

pic.twitter.com/gG1XXwgZN4

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) June 6, 2020

That’s the image of a receiver who 100% has his quarterback’s back. The two have incredible chemistry on the field, but things got a bit shaky off of it due to Brees’ previous comments. Now, though, Thomas, Malcolm Jenkins, and many other New Orleans players have come out to show their support for the superstar signal caller.

The beef appears to be squashed, and Saints fans everywhere can certainly breathe a sigh of relief.

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What if Tom Brady was the heir apparent to Drew Brees in New Orleans?

Tom Brady and Drew Brees are division rivals, but what if they were New Orleans Saints?

That sounds certifiably insane, but there was a possibility Brady could have come to The Big Easy to replace Brees had he retired after the 2019 NFL season. While many of us wish Brees had retired given his incredible tone-deaf nature of the George Floyd murder and the political protests that followed, CBS Sports’ Jason La Confora gives us the inside scoop on what could have been.

“Strange little quirk to this Drew Brees saga … Had Brees retired, as he long opined about and strongly considered, I’m told Tom Brady had very serious interest in the Saints and vice versa. Brady was waiting and watching that closely. Would have been a very real possibility.”

Brees signed a two-year deal this offseason to re-up with the Saints. The plan for him after he retired was to join NBC Sports as a football analyst, likely helping the television network cover their Notre Dame package on Saturdays before parlaying it into being a possible Cris Collinsworth successor in the Sunday Night Football booth. Do you really think that’s going to happening now?

With Brees coming back for another year or so in the league, Brady pivoted into looking at other suitable destinations in his free agency. Ultimately, it came down to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Chargers. Brady picked the Florida Gulf Coast for a handful of reasons, but being in the same Eastern Time Zone as his family was major factor in his decision.

Could Tom Brady have replaced Drew Brees on the New Orleans Saints?

While it’s not happening, it is interesting to dissect what La Confora reported. The impact of Brady going to the Saints as Brees’ successor would have been wild. We could go on for days about the fallout it would have caused and the implications it would have had throughout the rest of the league. But what we really want to know is would it have worked for Brady in The Crescent City?

With the Saints’ roster as currently constructed, New Orleans would be one of the handful of teams with a realistic shot at winning a Super Bowl. The upward trajectory of the Saints would have been about the same, although Brady would have made the Saints an undisputed top-two team in the NFC in 2020 whereas we thought Brees would probably have been able to do that.

This would also mean the Buccaneers would have Brady or Rob Gronkowski on their football team. They may have entertained bringing back Jameis Winston on a new deal. Perhaps they would have looked more seriously at other quarterbacks in free agency like Philip Rivers or Ryan Tannehill. Frankly, the Buccaneers probably would have traded up to draft a quarterback this past spring.

While the Buccaneers may have still been seen as a playoff contender, especially in the expanded field, nobody outside of Tampa would have thought they’d be good enough to win the division. They’d still be duking it out for second place in the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons. Then again with Brady on the team, that still might be the case, although the Saints could crater this fall.

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As for team fit, Brady would have fit right in with the Saints. Surely, he would have loved to play for an offensive genius like Saints head coach Sean Payton. Frankly, he’s more accomplished than the head coach he’s playing for now in Tampa Bay in Bruce Arians. The Saints have been a high-octane offense since the beginning of the Brees/Payton partnership formed back in 2006.

From a culture standpoint, Brady would have enjoyed himself playing in New Orleans. It’s not a major media market like Boston, arguably comparable to the one he’s joining in Tampa. Football is very important in Louisiana, much as it is in Florida. He’d play in the same division he does now, only with a slightly harder 2020 season schedule do to the Buccaneers being a third-place team.

However, there are two reasons Brady may not have done more than entertain the idea of joining New Orleans in free agency. Those factors are it’s Brees’ franchise and not being the Eastern Time Zone. Though it’s not joining the Indianapolis Colts and trodding on Peyton Manning territory, Brees will be a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Central Time Zone isn’t everything, but it’s something.

Ultimately, it would have a massive story if Brady replaced Brees in New Orleans. We’d be talking about the greatest quarterback of all time joining a top-10 NFL brand in the Saints, poised to win championships. Though it’s probably better for the sport he’s inserted a long-suffering franchise into the national conversation in the Buccaneers, this would have been utterly fascinating.

The Buccaneers and Saints’ rivalry is on the upswing, and La Confora’s nugget only intensifies it.

The post Tom Brady would have replaced Drew Brees if he had retired before 2020 appeared first on Bet Sunday.

Drew Brees has walked back his comments on kneeling NFL players “disrespecting the flag.”

Long-time New Orlean Saints quarterback Drew Brees has officially apologized for his tone deaf comments about NFL players “disrespecting the flag” when they kneel in protest. Earlier in the week, Brees made news with his statements that he “will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country” in response to NFL players that kneel during the national anthem, such as Colin Kaepernick first did in 2016.

The response to Brees’ comments was swift and wide ranging from the sports community. Martellus Bennett went after Brees and former teammate Aaron Rodgers alongside Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. Shannon Sharpe eviscerated Brees and shamed him for his lack of knowledge of black men in American history.

On Thursday, however, Brees has walked back his “insensitive” statements on Instagram with a lengthy message in support of the black community and against racial injustice and police brutality.

Drew Brees “missed the mark” on the issues facing the black community

“In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused,” Brees said on Instagram. “In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country.”

Brees also noted that he has taken full responsibility for his comments, and that while they do not reflect upon his values as a person, he himself has to “do less talking and more listening… and when the black community is talking about their pain, we all need to listen.”

While the damage may have already been done for some thanks to Brees’ comments, it seems as if some Saints players such as Michael Thomas have accepted Brees’ apology and are ready to move forward. While Brees’ statement on Thursday may have come from the right place, it’ll take more than words to be a good white ally in this time.

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