As they do every offseason, the Saints are making moves to get under the salary cap before the start of the league year.

A big move was made today when the Saints converted center Erik McCoy’s salary and roster bonus into a signing bonus, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

That means the Saints save $7.18 million in 2024 salary cap space, and that money will be pushed into the Saints’ salary cap for future seasons.

It’s a move that helps the Saints in the short term but doesn’t change their long-term cap problems. Every year the Saints are tight against the salary cap, which affects their ability to bring in free agents and re-sign their own free agents. It makes sense for teams to apply that short-term tactic to make a championship run, but the Saints have missed the playoffs in a weak division three years in a row.

The Saints remain about $75 million over the 2024 salary cap and will have to make many more moves to get under the cap by March 13.