New Orleans Saints

The Saints carry the second-most dead money in the league at $107.6M and rank 30th in available cap room, making every roster move a careful juggling act until the books clear.

25 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Five starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Six picks this cycle, all in rounds one through six, gives the Saints a workable immediate class, and the three first-rounders across the three-year window provide real rebuild leverage if used wisely.

• Acquired: Round 6 from Chargers, this draft
• Acquired: Round 7 from Cowboys, next draft
• Acquired: Round 7 from Patriots, next draft
• Acquired: Round 6 from Texans, next draft
• Traded away: Round 6 to Patriots, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Broncos, this draft
• Traded away: Round 7 to Texans, next draft
• Traded away: Round 6 to Cowboys, next draft

The roster's clearest strength is its offensive skill-position and interior-line core built around Olave, Etienne, and McCoy, while cornerback is the glaring weak spot, ranking dead last in both starter quality and overall depth.

• CBhigh

  The cornerback room, led by 76 overall Kool-Aid McKinstry and 75 overall Martin Emerson Jr., ranks 30th at both the starter and depth levels and is the single most urgent hole on the roster.

• DThigh

  Starter Davon Godchaux (78 overall) ranks 27th at the position, and with Godchaux as a cut candidate the interior line could get thinner before it gets better.

• MIKEhigh

  Pete Werner (75 overall) starts at MIKE but ranks 28th among starters, and the depth behind him, Danny Stutsman (70) and Jaylan Ford (67), offers little assurance.

• LTlow

  Kelvin Banks Jr. (78 overall) is the starter and holds real long-term promise at 22 with a Star trait, but the unit ranks 23rd at the starter level and 26th in depth.

• QBlow

  Tyler Shough (77 overall, Star trait) starts under center, ranking 22nd among starters, which is a manageable situation but one that caps the ceiling of the offense.

• RGlow

  Cesar Ruiz (76 overall) starts and the unit ranks 20th, though depth is healthier at seventh overall, making this a lower-priority concern relative to the defensive holes.

• SSlow

  Jonas Sanker (78 overall, Star trait, age 23) starts and the unit ranks 21st at the starter level but fifth in depth, suggesting internal growth could solve this without outside investment.

• 74Nathan ShepherdDTNathan Shepherd (74 overall) is buried behind Godchaux, Christen Miller, and Bryan Bresee on the DT depth chart, and cutting him frees $4.8M against only $2.4M in dead money.Frees $4.8M · $2.4M dead
• 74Jordan HowdenFSJordan Howden (74 overall) sits second on the free-safety depth chart behind Justin Reid with no path to playing time, and releasing him frees $3.7M against a negligible $80K in dead money.Frees $3.7M · $80.0K dead
• 57Will ShermanCWill Sherman (57 overall) is the third-string center behind McCoy and backup depth along the interior line, and his release frees $1.0M with zero dead money.Frees $1.0M · $0 dead
• 78Davon GodchauxDTDavon Godchaux (78 overall) starts at DT but is an aging player on an expensive deal, and cutting him frees $6.5M against only $680K in dead money, a near-clean savings that helps a cap room ranked 30th in the league.Frees $6.5M · $680.0K dead
• 61Treyton WelchTETreyton Welch (61 overall) is the fifth tight end on a roster that already carries Noah Fant and Oscar Delp behind starter Juwan Johnson, and releasing him frees $1.0M with no dead-cap penalty.Frees $1.0M · $0 dead

The Saints enter this cycle with genuine offensive building blocks in Chris Olave, Travis Etienne Jr., and Erik McCoy, plus a promising young left tackle in Kelvin Banks Jr., but the franchise faces a brutal financial reality with $107.6M in dead money and cap room ranked 30th in the league. The defense is the more pressing concern: cornerback is a crater, the MIKE linebacker spot is below average, and the defensive tackle depth is fragile enough that cutting Davon Godchaux would leave Christen Miller and Bryan Bresee as the top two. Cameron Jordan is well into the late stage of his career at right edge, and Kaden Elliss, while still effective, needs a succession plan at WILL. Alvin Kamara, also entering the late chapter of his career, serves as a committee back behind Etienne but cannot be counted on as a long-term pillar. Tyler Shough (77 overall, Star trait) gets the first crack at quarterback, and his development will be the single largest factor in how quickly this team climbs. The financial picture clears significantly by the third season, when committed salary drops to $92.8M, giving the front office real room to reshape the roster around the young core already in place.

The Saints were awarded to New Orleans on November 1, 1966, All Saints' Day, and began play in 1967 as the NFL's 16th franchise, founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city. Rookie John Gilliam returned the opening kickoff of the first regular-season game (Sept. 17, 1967) 94 yards for a touchdown, but the team lost and spent two decades in futility, going 20 consecutive seasons without a winning record. The nadir was the 1-15 campaign of 1980, when disgusted fans began wearing paper bags over their heads and calling the team the 'Aints.' One early bright spot: on November 8, 1970, Tom Dempsey booted a then-record 63-yard field goal to beat Detroit 19-17 on the game's final play. The franchise's first winning season and playoff berth came in 1987 under coach Jim Mora, powered by the 'Dome Patrol' linebacker corps (Rickey Jackson, Sam Mills, Pat Swilling, Vaughan Johnson). The first playoff win did not arrive until January 2001, the team's 34th season. The defining era began in 2006, when the Saints hired coach Sean Payton and signed free-agent QB Drew Brees months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Superdome in 2005. The era peaked in the 2009 season: a 13-0 start and a 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV (Feb. 7, 2010), with Brees named MVP. The title was later shadowed by 'Bountygate,' the 2012 revelation of a pay-for-injury bounty program that drew unprecedented NFL sanctions. Two gut-punch playoff moments bookend the late-Brees years: the 'Minneapolis Miracle' that ended the 2017 divisional playoff, and the 'NOLA No-Call' in the January 2019 NFC Championship Game, when uncalled pass interference helped the Rams win in overtime. Brees retired after the 2020 season, and the franchise has not returned to the playoffs since.