Saints’ Payton expects Brees to throw at practice all week

The biggest question headed into this week is Brees’ availability Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. Payton also mentioned the Saints are light at tight end, with only Benjamin Watson and Josh Hill on the roster. We’re going to play in a lot of close games and we need to work on being able to finish and capitalize on field possession or with time left.

That’s what the team added by converting .2 million of Drew Brees’ 2015 base salary into a signing bonus and turning Brees’ already gargantuan $27.4 million cap figure for 2016, the a year ago of the quarterback’s contract, into a $30 million hit – which would be tops in the NFL.

The move, first reported by ESPN, will create $2.6 million in salary cap space. Moving the money on Brees’ contract does not fix anything long-term.

Brees’ cap hit now decreases to $23 million for this year, but will increase to $30 million in 2016.

Brees missed the first game of his career Sunday at Carolina due to an injury.

Sean Payton said Wednesday during his morning teleconference that freeing up salary cap space helps the team operate during the season.

It may already be too late for the Saints to be a factor this season since the Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons are 3-0 in the NFC South, but sitting idly by would be an admission of defeat.