Saints officially release starting safety Marcus Maye

 Saints officially release starting safety Marcus Maye

The New Orleans Saints have officially released Marcus Maye according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. After it was reported back on February 29 that the intent was to release Maye at the beginning of the new league year, we saw that happen one day before the official start of the NFL free agency period.

This move comes as a standard termination of his contract, rather than a post-June 1 designation (teams are only allowed to use two of those, and both of the Saints’ slots are occupied by Michael Thomas and Jameis Winston).

Ultimately this leaves the Saints with $8.134 million in dead money; however, they will end up saving $1.434 million after letting Maye go.

This move helps the Saints become cap-compliant before the March 13 deadline to do so and will free up a starting safety spot alongside Tyrann Mathieu throughout the offseason process. With Jordan Howden performing well last season, he has a strong chance for that role especially having a year under his belt on the roster.

The same narrative goes for Johnathan Abram who performed well in the latter half of the season, though he’s a free agent and needs to be re-signed.

With the safety free agent market heating up as well, that could play into the scenario, even if it is picking up a depth safety to play behind one of the two.