Wondering how the Saints fit the recent signings of Curtis Lofton and Chris Chamberlain under their salary cap, despite so little purported cap room?
Wonder no more.
ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas reports that New Orleans quietly has restructured the contracts of cornerback Patrick Robinson and wide receiver Lance Moore, freeing up a total of roughly $2.3 million in salary cap space.
In Moore’s case, his $2 million base salary was dropped to $825,000. Moore received a $1.175 million “signing” bonus to compensate. The signing bonus will be prorated over the life of Moore’s contract, and in the process his 2012 cap figure tumbled from $4.3 million to $2.9 million.
Robinson’s 2012 salary was only $540,000, so there wasn’t much the Saints could do with that. They were able to convert a $1.267 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, however. Like with Moore, Robinson’s “signing” bonus will now be prorated instead of having it all count against the Saints’ 2012 cap.
The Robinson restructure moved his cap figure from $2.9 million to $2.06 million.
And, thus, the Saints brought aboard two new (likely) starting linebackers.