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The New Orleans Saints are still mulling their options at quarterback for 2022, and have recently been linked to Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Of course, any team vying to land Watson will have to absorb his massive contract, and the Saints' latest move to clear up cap space could position the team to make a run at the 26-year-old. According to Adam Schefter, The Saints freed up nearly $7 million in cap space by restructuring the contract of Marcus Davenport.
Saints converted over $8 million of Marcus Davenport’s $9.553 million base salary into a signing bonus to create $6.8144M in 2022 salary cap space, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2022
By converting more than $8 million of Davenport's slightly more than $9.5 million base salary into a signing bonus, the Saints were able to free up an additional $6.8 million, funds which could go towards Watson's contract, if they do look to pursue him.
The move does not indicate that the Saints will be pushing for a Watson trade, despite recent reports that they're interested in the controversial quarterback, but it does free up money for them if they do opt to go that route. The Saints were one of the teams with the least available cap space heading into the 2022 NFL offseason, so maneuvers like this to free up some money were always expected. The timing of this one, amid the buzz surrounding Watson's future, however, will only fuel the fire behind the links between Watson and the Saints.
Last season the Saints' quarterback carousel saw the team utilize as many as four different QBs, none who performed with much success apart from Jameis Winston, who was lost to a torn ACL midway through the season. Watson would be an answer to all of the problems under center for New Orleans, who otherwise look like a team capable of making a big splash in the NFL Playoffs.
