NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints have about $28 million available this year as they move on from free agency to the draft.
Exactly what the Saints will do with that money is a mystery as the draft begins on April 24. New Orleans has nine total picks, starting with the No. 9 pick.
The Saints freed up over $60 million in cap space in March through a series of releases, restructures and pay cuts, allowing them to sign new free agents like safety Justin Reid, retain players like defensive end Chase Young and tight end Juwan Johnson and even bring back former wide receiver Brandin Cooks.
"We nailed it when we were able to get Justin," Saints coach Kellen Moore said at the annual league meetings last week. "Obviously, you recognize there was a lot of other teams chasing after him and so we feel really, really excited that ultimately he made the decision he wanted to come back to Louisiana."
They also made some under-the-radar moves, such as signing former Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Dillon Radunz to a one-year deal worth $2.25 million, filling the space left by left guard Lucas Patrick, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals on a $1.3 million deal.
Moore said that Radunz, who can play multiple positions, could compete for the starting left guard spot.
"Coming off a season where I started at guard, so guard would be where I feel most comfortable at, right over left. I played left side in college, played right side all last year," Radunz said. "Comfortable there, but ultimately at the end of the day, it's whatever gets me on the field quickest. ... Obviously I think [left] is where there's an open competition right now, so that's what we're going to gun for."
The Saints could go in almost any direction in the draft, although the biggest question will be whether they target a quarterback in the first round or beyond. New Orleans restructured quarterback Derek Carr's contract, effectively keeping him on the team through this season.
But the team has also shown interest in quarterbacks throughout the draft process, attending Miami quarterback Cam Ward's Pro Day. Ward, ranked as the best quarterback prospect in the 2025 draft, is expected to be the No. 1 pick.
"The quarterback position obviously is a valuable position in our league. We all know that, so I'm a quarterback guy. I do like seeing quarterbacks," Moore said.
Whether the Saints choose to go the quarterback route, they also have some more immediate needs, including cornerback, due to the departures of Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore.
New Orleans attempted to fill that position by targeting cornerback Charvarius Ward in free agency, but he signed with the Indianapolis Colts on a three-year deal averaging $18 million a year. Reid's three-year deal with the Saints averages $10.5 million each year.
"Free agency has a lot of conversations in a very short period of time and there's a lot of overlap and so we felt like both of those players would've helped our team and we had the flexibility to handle that however we needed to," Moore said when asked if they could have signed both Reid and Ward.
The Saints re-signed CB Isaac Yiadom instead for an average of $3 million a year.
Wide receiver also could be a priority despite the signing of Cooks, especially if the Saints look to add a bigger-bodied type to complement their current room.
"Anybody in a perfect world wants to have a basketball team with some tall, some short, some quick, some big. We're flexible," Moore said. "Certainly the people part of it is really, really valuable to us and we feel like we brought in an excellent player and person in Brandin."
Although Moore jokingly acknowledged the Saints' tendency to trade up in the draft, if they were to keep every pick, it would take about $5.4 million in cap space to sign their drafted rookies. That's due to the rule of 51, which means that only the top 51 contracts count against the salary cap in the offseason.
The Saints will spend more money in the fall to sign a practice squad and add players to the roster as injured replacements, but unless they make a big offseason move, it's likely they'll roll over a significant amount of money into the 2026 salary cap. New Orleans has carried over more than $5 million in space just once since the 2012 season.
So what could they do with their remaining space?
While the Saints will likely wish to roll over a lot of their space to 2026 to address those issues, they could still attempt to sign some free agents following the draft to fill any remaining holes this year. Some recent players signed in May who played significant roles include Patrick and safety Will Harris (2024), tight end Foster Moreau (2023) and wide receiver Jarvis Landry and safety Tyrann Mathieu (2022).
According to ESPN's best remaining free agents list, cornerback Rasul Douglas, wide receiver Amari Cooper, cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., cornerback Mike Hilton, running back J.K. Dobbins, wide receiver Keenan Allen, guard Brandon Scherff, wide receiver Diontae Johnson, wide receiver Tyler Lockett and guard Will Hernandez are among the top 20 free agents remaining at potential positions of need.
However, the Saints will have to think with at least one eye on the future when determining their next moves. They already have more than $350 million in projected salary cap liabilities in 2026 when taking into account several factors. That includes the cost of their 2025 draft class and the potential of a $15 million fifth-year option for wide receiver Chris Olave.
There's also the potential for a significant amount of dead money in 2026: almost $12 million if Ryan Ramczyk retires after June 1 and up to $68 million total if the contracts of six players automatically void, including defensive end Cameron Jordan, Mathieu, tight end Taysom Hill and linebacker Demario Davis.
Carr also has a $69.2 million cap hit in the final season of his contract that will have to be addressed. If New Orleans were to release him next season, he would either count $59.6 million against the 2026 cap as a standard release or $19.2 million in 2026 as a post-June 1 release.
Moore said he and Carr were excited to team up together, even though sources told ESPN last month that Carr was open to testing the market before his restructure.
"I'm excited to have him back with us really shortly. Obviously April 14 we'll start and I think that's the fun part," Moore said. "These guys go through the offseason. They have a chance to spend time with their family, invest in all that, which is the right thing to do, and once you get back April 14, ... football's in the fold and it'll be a great process."
