“The salary cap isn’t real” - NFL fans react to Saints signing Isaac Yiadom for $9,000,000 in free agency

On Thursday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport broke the news that the New Orleans Saints had signed cornerback Isaac Yiadom to a three-year, $9 million contract. Rapoport also confirmed that the deal had $4.86 million guaranteed and had the option to increase to a max value of $10.5 million.

Though the news is notable for the Saints and does improve their defensive unit in the secondary, NFL fans were quick to question how the Saints even have the money to make all of these signings.

Before free agency, the Saints were almost $40 million over the salary cap, according to ESPN. Despite this, the Saints still signed C Will Clapp, TE Jack Stoll, TE Juwan Johnson, S Justin Reid, WR Dante Pettis, DE Chase Young, and now CB Isaac Yiadom.

NFL fans shared their reaction to the latest news.

"The Saints have signed like ten guys the last week which is the biggest evidence yet that the salary cap isn’t real. I thought they had like $200 million in dead money," one fan said.

"Bruh WHERE ARE THEY GETTING THE MONEY THEY DONT HAVE CAP SPACE," one fan wrote.

"Does the NFL salary cap not mean anything…? I have zero clue how a team entering free agency over the cap spent so much money," one fan added.

How Does The NFL Salary Cap Work?

While the National Football League does have a hard salary cap, meaning that teams cannot exceed the allotted limit, the league does allow franchises to renegotiate contracts with players.

This allows players to restructure their deal, potentially converting salary cap to bonuses or incentives. By doing so, players can still earn all of the money they were supposed to in the original contract, yet not actually count against the salary cap for their team.

The Saints have become one of the best teams at coming into free agency well over the salary cap limit and then restructuring deals to still sign various free-agent players.

As is evident by the various recent moves by the Saints, general manager Mickey Loomis has once again succeeded in maneuvering the salary cap, which is completely within the rules of the NFL.