James Hurst took a big pay cut to stay with the Saints in 2024

Here's some early-morning housekeeping by the New Orleans Saints. As first noted by Saints News Network's John Hendrix, left guard James Hurst agreed to a pay cut for the 2024 season, reducing his base salary from $3 million to the league minimum at $1.21 million. Hurst also gave up some bonuses which lowered his 2024 salary cap hit down to $2.97 million from its initial number of $6.5 million.

The Saints could have saved $2.7 million by letting Hurst go (either by releasing him or in a trade with another team), but instead they're freeing up more than $3.5 million against the cap while keeping him on the roster. It's bad for the player to give up money like that, but Hurst does get some job security and the opportunity to compete for a starting gig over the summer. He's still on schedule to become a free agent next year.

Could this mean a reduced role for hurst? Possibly. He didn't play as well as expected after moving inside to left guard for 2023 (having started at left tackle in 2022) and was arguably the team's least-effective offensive lineman after Trevor Penning, who was replaced by Andrus Peat just a few games into the season. Now Penning is hoping to improve under guidance of a new coaching staff, Peat is an unrestricted free agent, and Hurst is waiting to see what competition the Saints will bring in to push him in 2024.

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