The New Orleans Saints went all in once again to win another Super Bowl title. However, things did not go as planned. Their latest playoff failure came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-20 in the postseason’s NFC divisional round. The harsh reality about this year’s playoff exit compared to previous seasons is that 2020 could be the last year of watching Drew Brees in a Saints uniform.
Besides, the news of Brees possibly retiring is that the Saints are heading into a new era with an uncertain future. In Coach Payton’s end of the season press conference, he expressed his optimism on the future with a roster that may look entirely different once the 2021 season kicks off.
“I like to think it won’t; what we don’t know is take the player you are referencing, which could be any player, what is the number for that player to get him back, or what is the number that someone else may be interested in signing him. Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see where that cap number falls, and we will begin the process of studying this roster. Then we will look closely at those decisions. But I think that we have always found a way relative to the players that we know to work through some of the challenges and some of the obstacles and put the best team on the field that we feel is possible. That will be something that won’t change this year.” Payton said at his end of the season press conference interviews.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Saints organization’s reaction to how they handle the impending salary cap dilemma will be one of the league’s top storylines going into the offseason. Head Coach Sean Payton and executive vice president and General Manager Mickey Loomis have endured tough challenges in the past while they build a competitive football team. The way that the team performs in 2021 will show the perseverance of how a successful NFL franchise responds to adversity.
The 2021 NFL salary cap is projected to take a severe hit due to the coronavirus pandemic that begin in early March of 2020. The Saints have $284.1 million in 2021 cap commitments with 45 players under contract according to NFL Players Association data. $4.122 million of unused 2020 cap space has been carried over to the 2021 league year, which begins on March 17.
Photo courtesy of Brian Blanco/Associated Press.
