METAIRIE, La. -- It's now Day 2 of the New Orleans Saints' offseason. Has the sting started to wear off yet?
Didn't think so.
But you can add this to the list of reasons to be optimistic for 2018: For the second straight offseason, the Saints should be able to avoid "salary-cap jail" with a list of pending free agents that is very manageable.
Obviously one of those free agents is Drew Brees, but there is little doubt that he will re-sign -- likely on a short-term contract. Even if Brees doesn't offer much of a hometown discount and costs about $25 million in new money this year, the Saints can fit that (and still have room to spare) under a salary cap that could reportedly climb to $178 million this year.