Despite finishing just 6-11 in 2025, the New Orleans Saints were one of just three teams to go undefeated in December, giving them a foundation to build on in the 2026 offseason.
However, general manager Mickey Loomis finds himself in a difficult position entering free agency. The Saints are in an obvious rebuild phase, but their salary cap situation leaves them with little flexibility. New Orleans has the eighth-worst salary cap situation in the league, according to Over The Cap.
The Saints were not particularly active in the 2025 offseason, but they are poised to be more aggressive in 2026, as they commit to building around Tyler Shough. New Orleans will need to clean house to make the appropriate moves in the franchise’s best interest, which could result in a mini roster purge in the coming months.
The Saints have several tenured veterans on their roster whom fans would hate to see go. Loomis has historically been a loyal employer, but a few difficult decisions might be in store. The Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks each made surprising releases in the 2025 offseason, which evidently proved to be the right decisions. New Orleans could be the next team to follow that pattern.
The NFC South has already undergone several monumental changes in the 2026 offseason, before the free agency window even opened. The Saints need to join them in making seismic moves in the next few months, which will require Loomis to cut ties with a few long-standing veterans.
DE Carl Granderson
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Carl Granderson has been a centerpiece of the Saints’ defense since he joined the team in 2019, when he burst onto the scene as an undrafted free agent. The 29-year-old has played at a high level since 2022, which led Loomis to give him a four-year, $52 million extension in the 2023 offseason.
While Granderson’s production has remained steady, he is no longer the every-down edge-rusher he was a few years ago. Granderson played nearly 80 percent of the defensive snaps during his career year in 2023, but that number dipped to nearly 60 percent in 2025.
Granderson’s snap count is now near the league-average for an edge-rusher, but that diminishes his primary strength as an edge-rusher. Much like Maxx Crosby on the Las Vegas Raiders, Granderson made a name for himself as a relentless pass-rusher who almost never came off the field.
Granderson’s age and fit within Dennis Allen’s defensive scheme are factors in his reduced snap count, but he also faces more competition for playing time than he did a few years ago. While Cameron Jordan continues to defy Father Time and led the team with 10.5 sacks in 2025, Chase Young broke out with a career-high 10 sacks, with Nathan Shepherd and Jonah Williams also improving.
Granderson is still one of the team’s best edge-rushers, but it is less noticeable when he is off the field than it used to be. New Orleans could also consider moving Bryan Bresee back to the outside after he regressed from 7.5 sacks in 2024 to just 2.5 in 2025, adding another body to the group.
If the Saints cut Granderson after June 1, it would save over $7 million in cap space, per Over The Cap. New Orleans restructured his deal in 2025 to seemingly prevent him from being released, but it remains possible.
RB Alvin Kamara
Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
The most difficult decision the Saints could potentially make in the 2026 offseason would be cutting Alvin Kamara, who is tied with Taysom Hill as the second-longest tenured player on the team. Releasing Kamara would draw tears from some, but it could be in the cards.
Kamara defied time with a career-high 950-yard rushing season in 2024, but his decline hit hard in 2025. The 30-year-old posted career lows across the board, including just 471 rushing yards and 186 receiving yards. His efficiency also fell off a cliff, posting just 3.6 yards per carry and 5.6 yards per catch.
Kamara’s health was also an issue, as he appeared in a career-low 11 games. While never the quickest or most elusive player on the field, he looked diminished in every aspect in year nine, an issue unlikely to improve.
Kamara played his final game of the year in Week 12, after which Devin Neal and Audric Estime took over the backfield. Estime was particularly impressive after Neal was lost for the season and ended the year with 157 rushing yards in the Saints’ final two games.
Depending on Kellen Moore’s confidence in Neal and Estime, the Saints are likely to spend an early pick on a running back in the 2026 NFL Draft. Not only is Kamara a bad fit with Tyler Shough in Moore’s offense, but he is also significantly less effective on the field than in previous years.
The Saints can save $8.5 million in cap space by cutting Kamara after June 1, per Over The Cap. Longtime fans might not want to see it, but it would benefit the franchise’s long-term outlook.
CB Isaac Yiadom
Jon Endow-Imagn Images
The Saints have a few transparent cut candidates on their roster entering the 2026 offseason, and Isaac Yiadom is at the top of the list. Yiadom has been with New Orleans in three of the last four seasons, but that run should end in June.
The Saints used Yiadom as a rotational cornerback in 2022 and 2023, but he fell completely out of the rotation in 2025. After playing 108 defensive snaps through the first two weeks, Yiadom played just 36 snaps in the next two weeks before being benched entirely. He was used on special teams but did not play another defensive snap until Week 16.
Yiadom entered the season as a starter after the Saints lost Paulson Adebo to the New York Giants in 2025. He quickly fell behind rookie Quincy Riley, who usurped him as New Orleans’ primary nickelback alongside outside cornerbacks Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry.
The Saints would not save much money by cutting him, but they would recoup $1.2 million in dead cap space with a post-June 1 release date, per Over The Cap. Yiadom just has no purpose on the roster anymore and should be receiving his walking papers in the summer.
The post 3 Saints cut candidates entering 2026 offseason appeared first on ClutchPoints.
