Veteran safety Roman Harper has been a leader on the Saints' defense for years now. But, there always comes a time when the older player just can’t get it done anymore. Better that the Saints let him go and get some young legs in the secondary next season.
You just can’t afford to allocate significant portions of your salary cap to running backs anymore. With a few exceptions (see Peterson, Adrian) running backs should be strictly of the young, cheap variety. With a $2.9 million cap hit looming in 2014, the Saints would be wise to let Pierre Thomas run somewhere else.
Despite a solid season in 2012, Shayne Graham missed both field goal attempts in the Saints’ playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Sometimes in life you have to exorcise some demons, and bringing in a new kicker will help New Orleans move on. The good news for Graham is that he'll likely find another job next year.
Defensive end Will Smith, an aging veteran with mounting injuries who comes with a huge cap hit, is about the easiest cut in football today. NFL teams know they can’t afford to use up large portions of their cap on older players, so if Smith won’t take a massive pay cut to stay in New Orleans, he’ll wind up taking one to play somewhere else.
Running back Mark Ingram hasn't quite been a bust in the pros, but he hasn't lived up to his first-round billing either. That is mostly because no back is worth a first-round pick these days, but that doesn't let Ingram off the hook for his erratic performance in New Orleans. The former Heisman Trophy winner is a serviceable option at running back, but that is worth nowhere near the $2.4 million he’s slated to count against the cap next year.
