As the world continues to wait for an update on Drew Brees, the Saints made an important move regarding the veteran's contract.
New Orleans renegotiated Brees’ contract to drop his base salary in 2021 to the minimum, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Friday, per an informed source. The club can now keep him on the roster past June 1 while drastically reducing his 2021 cap hit.
Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap first reported the news.
Pelissero noted that the Saints will now carry a roughly $12 million cap charge for Brees, rather than the $36 million-plus it would've initially cost the team. An additional $11.5 million would hit the cap in 2022, he added.
The move frees up about $24 million for the Saints which will be crucial in an offseason where many teams will be cap-strapped.
It's been expected for months that the 41-year-old will eventually announce his retirement. In the meantime, Brees, who is no stranger to restructuring his contract for his team's benefit, made sure to do the Saints one more solid by spreading the cap impact should he decide to call it quits.