3 tough salary cap decisions New Orleans Saints face in 2021

1. Keep Emmanuel Sanders?

The Saints filled their need for a No. 2 wide receiver last offseason by signing Sanders, and as Michael Thomas had a disappointing season he delivered solid (if wholly unspectacular) production–61 catches (on 82 targets) for 726 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games.

Sanders will turn 34 at the start of the new league year on March 17, and he hasn’t had even a 900-yard season since 2016. He’s also a $10 million cap hit for 2021, with a $2 million roster bonus due to him on the fifth day of the league year (March 22). If he’s cut but not designated a post-June 1 cut, the Saints would carry $6 million in dead money. A post-June 1 cut flips the implications, leaving $4 million in dead money and clearing $6 million in cap space.

The Saints still need to try to bolster their receiving corp behind Thomas. Sanders could be back, but an injection of talent (and youth, ideally, if only for cost reasons) is in order. When the numbers are crunched Sanders could find himself taking a significant pay cut to stay in New Orleans, or he could be in search of another team.