As usual, the Saints are over the salary cap as the new league year approaches. And as usual, they’re restructuring contracts to change that.
Today the Saints have created $26.217 million in cap space by restructuring the contracts of wide receiver Michael Thomas and offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
For both players, that means converting almost all of their 2022 base salaries into signing bonuses. Base salaries count against the entire 2022 cap, but signing bonuses are spread equally across all years of the players’ remaining contracts.
For Thomas in particular, this should remove any doubt that he will remain with the Saints. There had been some talk that the Saints might be ready to move on from Thomas, both because he has struggled to stay healthy and because of a perception that he hasn’t been on the same page as the coaching staff. But this move makes clear that the plan is for Thomas to be a Saint in 2022.
Even after these moves, the Saints are over the 2022 cap, so they have more moves to make before the new league year starts on March 16.