Nick Vannett renegotiates contract to stay with the Saints

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ESPN’s Field Yates reports that veteran tight end agreed to renegotiate his contract with the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday, with the most significant change being a pay cut. Vannett’s base salary will fall from $2.6 million to just $1.035 million (the veteran’s minimum for someone with his experience), altogether yielding $1.55 million in salary cap space. Reports previously suggested Vannett could be moved in a trade at the NFL roster cuts deadline.

It was likely this or being released for Vannett. Other tight ends on the depth chart are locked into defined roles — Adam Trautman should again see the majority of snaps, with Taysom Hill and Juwan Johnson also getting into games for pass-catching roles. Vannett is the team’s lone blocking specialist, and that’s a role the Saints still value, so they chose to keep him around rather than trade or cut him altogether.

Still, it’s not like the Saints were hurting for cap space. They were under the cap by more than $11 million before filing a couple dozen roster cuts, and by the time various adjustments are made and the practice squad assembled they should be in the clear by north of $20 million. They knew Vannett didn’t have much leverage here so they squeezed some more resources out of him while protecting his roster spot.

Teams going back on previously-agreed contracts like this is an ugly side of the business, but the game is the game. At least Vannett knows he’ll continue to suit up and earn more money than he’d see on another team’s practice squad. He’ll have opportunities to help the team win games in the fall.