Drew Brees has not yet announced his retirement, but in a hint that he’s preparing to do so, he has agreed with the Saints that he will dramatically reduce his 2021 salary.
Brees is currently under contract for a $25 million salary in 2021 but has agreed to the league minimum of $1.075 million, according to ESPN.
As explained by Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, that brings Brees’ cap hit for 2021 down to $12.225 million, from the $36.15 million it would have been if he hadn’t taken the pay cut. That means Brees has just saved the Saints nearly $24 million on their salary cap once the new league year starts in March.
Then Brees and the Saints can wait until after June 1 to make his retirement official, at which point the Saints can split his dead cap number of $22.65 million between the 2021 and 2022 salary caps.
Even after this move, the Saints are projected to be well over the salary cap for 2021, so more moves are certainly coming. But some creative accounting and Brees’ cooperation has just made things a little easier on the Saints.