Tre’Quan Smith was released by the New Orleans Saints this week and immediately booked a flight to visit Sean Payton’s Denver Broncos, but what does his departure mean for the team’s salary cap outlook? The Saints were under the spending limit by about $2.67 million prior to releasing Smith from injured reserve.
Now, the experts at Over The Cap estimate the Saints are under the cap by $4.1 million. That isn’t much (it currently ranks eighth-lowest around the league), but it does give them a little wiggle room ahead of the Oct. 31 trade deadline.
Buy Saints TicketsThey wouldn’t be able to take on the full salary for some players — like, say, Las Vegas Raiders receiver Hunter Renfrow at about $5.05 million right now — but the Saints typically ask their trade partners to pay part of the player’s salary to facilitate a trade. That’s what they’ve done in trades for Bradley Roby and Kwon Alexander in recent years. Maybe they circle back to that approach.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Right now the Saints need to focus on getting back in the win column so they can be in a position to buy, not sell, at that trade deadline next month. Still, moves like this Smith release should be noted when we take a big-picture look at this team.
