It's been a big week for the New Orleans Saints at the start of their 2026 training camp. Between Taysom Hill saying thank you to New Orleans as he considers his next step, Bryan Bresee suffering a potentially season-ending knee injury, and Chris Olave agreeing to terms on a $132 million contract extension, there's been a lot to keep up with. And Drew Brees is going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next week, too. But right now we're focusing on Olave's new contract. Thanks to some reporting from NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill on the structure of the deal, we can estimate just how much it'll cost the Saints against the salary cap.
Olave was set to play on his fully-guaranteed fifth-year option of $15.493 million, but that money appears to have been spread out as part of the deal. Underhill reports that Olave's base salary is now $1.29 million, a little more than the veteran's minimum, and a steep drop from that $15.493 million figure. Combine that with the proration from his $35 million signing bonus and you've got a 2026 salary cap hit of about $8.29 million. That saves the Saints $7.2 million against this year's cap, putting them under the spending limit by more than $13.5 million. They can use that extra money to sign a veteran to replace Bresee, upgrade another position group, or just churn the depth chart and cover in-season moves.
Here are Olave's other salary cap hit estimates under this new contract:
2026: $8.29 million ($1.29 million base salary and $7 million SB proration guaranteed)
2027: $20.6 million ($13.6 million base salary and $7 million SB proration guaranteed)
#orleans #bresee #olave
Olave was set to play on his fully-guaranteed fifth-year option of $15.493 million, but that money appears to have been spread out as part of the deal. Underhill reports that Olave's base salary is now $1.29 million, a little more than the veteran's minimum, and a steep drop from that $15.493 million figure. Combine that with the proration from his $35 million signing bonus and you've got a 2026 salary cap hit of about $8.29 million. That saves the Saints $7.2 million against this year's cap, putting them under the spending limit by more than $13.5 million. They can use that extra money to sign a veteran to replace Bresee, upgrade another position group, or just churn the depth chart and cover in-season moves.
Here are Olave's other salary cap hit estimates under this new contract:
2026: $8.29 million ($1.29 million base salary and $7 million SB proration guaranteed)
2027: $20.6 million ($13.6 million base salary and $7 million SB proration guaranteed)
#orleans #bresee #olave
2 months ago
