Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
The New Orleans Saints, like many other teams, are always looking to stay under the salary cap and have enough money left over to sign or re-sign numerous players. The Saints in particular will be in a cap-crunch for the next few seasons as a result of the $100 million contract quarterback Drew Brees signed. While Brees is definitely worth the money, it does put the Saints in a tough spot to hand out other contracts and retain some of their players.
The Saints will no doubt have to cut some players this offseason, and one player that is rumored to be on the chopping block is wide receiver Lance Moore. Moore has appeared in 12 games so far this season for the Saints, but his production and role have diminished significantly. Through 12 games, Moore has only made 33 receptions for 384 yards and one touchdown. Moore is due to make about $3.8 million next season.
The Saints are extremely deep at wide receiver and with the emergence of rookie wide receiver Kenny Stills, Moore is a lot more expendable. Furthermore, when wide receiver Joe Morgan returns from injury, he should be able to bump Moore off the depth chart.
Moore had a great season with the Saints last season as he caught a career-high 1,041 yards and six touchdowns off of 65 receptions. However, it appears that the Saints will no longer get that type of production out of Moore and he will likely be gone.
The only scenario in which Moore could be retained is if he were to take a paycut, and he probably would not want to do that at this stage of his career. HE is still a viable NFL receiver and perhaps a change of scenery would benefit both him and the Saints.
