Nov 23, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis during the Jimmy Graham retirement at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Major NFL news makes life even easier for the New Orleans Saints front office as they attack offseason task they'll deal with quickly

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Adam Holt | Last updated Feb 2, 2026 8:29 AM ET

The salary cap around the NFL adjusts every year. This year, however, it is set to take a historic step forward. For the New Orleans Saints, that is fantastic news.

Check out further details on the expected salary cap increase below.

NFL salary cap set to increase during 2026 offseason

As first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL informed teams that the 2026 salary cap was expected to fall between the range of $301.2 to $305.7 million per club. It’ll mark the first time ever that the NFL salary cap has exceeded the $300 million mark.

The NFL informed clubs today it is projecting a 2026 salary cap in the range of $301.2 million to $305.7 million per club, per source.

That would represent another significant jump from this year’s $279.2 million cap number, and nearly $100M than the $208.2M cap in 2022. pic.twitter.com/3Mr146H01C
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2026

For New Orleans, this will help them both attempt to bring back impending free agents on new deals, as well as ink new players to deals during free agency. They have a hurdle that they are used to dealing with during the early portion of the offseason, though.

What is the Saints' projected salary cap space for the 2026 NFL season?

According to OverTheCap, the Saints are currently projected to be over the cap by $13,629,296.

Those are "rookie" numbers for the Saints front office, though. In years past, New Orleans has been $50M or more over the cap entering the offseason. Every time, they find ways, basic and unique, to create space and ultimately create a roster.

The following list reveals all of the expected unrestricted free agents for the Saints this offseason.

Taysom Hill
Demario Davis
Cameron Jordan
Foster Moreau
Julian Blackmon
Dillon Radunz
Alontae Taylor
Luke Fortner
Jonathan Bullard
Will Clapp
Ugo Amadi
Michael Davis
Chris Rumph II
John Ridgeway

The Saints will also have to consider the task of signing their rookie class as well. That will play a role in their salary cap situation, but overall, this year's situation is much less dire than years prior. Years of pushing money back on veteran contracts has stacked up in recent offseasons.

This year, though, the Saints have a clear and obvious pathway to get under the cap and also create space to make meaningful additions during free agency.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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