Drew Brees’ agreement to renegotiate his contract with the New Orleans Saints was big news, and for good reason: he dropped his salary cap hit from more than $36 million to roughly $12 million, with more changes expected once the Saints designate him a post-June 1st release. That will spread the accounting out a little further into 2022, giving them some much-needed room to maneuver beneath the 2021 salary cap.
This is noteworthy because it’s different from the restructures Brees has agreed to before. This time, he isn’t taking a big signing bonus to restructure his base salary into prorated payments — he’s leaving money on the table altogether in a clean pay cut.