Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced earlier this week his intention to return for 2019. The Saints obviously want him back, but they also probably will want to reduce his salary cap hit.
Brees currently is scheduled to count a league-high $33.5 million against the Saints’ cap. His cap number is $4 million more than Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has the second-highest cap figure for 2019.
“We’ll see what happens,” Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis said, via Josh Katzenstein of the Times-Picayune. “We know it’s coming at some point, and we’ve kind of kicked the can down the road a number of times, haven’t we?”
Brees, 40, signed a two-year, $50 million deal last March. He counted $24 million against the cap this season, but with restructures from previous contracts, Brees has more than $50 million due on the cap the next two seasons, per Katzenstein.
The Saints could restructure the deal, kicking the money down the road yet again if need be. Truth be told, the Saints probably go into a rebuild once Brees calls it quits anyway, so their window isn’t open much longer.
“We’ve got a lot of mechanisms to maneuver the cap,” Loomis said.
