Khalen Saunders

New Orleans Saints, Defensive Tackle
Age: 28y-7m-2d (Aug 09, 1996)
Exp: 6 Years
Country: US
College: Western Illinois
Drafted: Round 3 (#84 overall), 2019
Agent(s): Kyle McCarthy, Blaine Roche (Athletes First)
2025 Cap Hit

$2,605,412

2025 Cash

$4,000,000

Career Earnings

$12,072,728

2023-2025 Free Agent (CURRENT)

Khalen Saunders signed a 3 year, $12,300,000 contract with the New Orleans Saints, including $3,500,000 signing bonus, $6,600,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $4,100,000. In 2025, Saunders will earn a base salary of $1,170,000 and a restructure bonus of $2,530,000, while carrying a cap hit of $2,605,412 and a dead cap value of $4,630,000.
Contract Terms:
3 yr(s) / $12,300,000
Average Salary:
$4,100,000
Signing Bonus:
$3,500,000
GTD at Sign:
$4,600,000
Total GTD:
$6,600,000
Free Agent:
2026 / UFA
MANAGE CONTRACT
Year Age Status Cap HitAnnual Cap % League Cap Cash Annual Cash Cumulative Dead Cap Annual
2023 27 $1,800,000 0.80% $4,600,000 $4,600,000 $4,600,000
2024 28 $4,400,000 1.72% $3,700,000 $8,300,000 $4,800,000
2025 29 $2,605,412 0.93% $4,000,000 $12,300,000 $4,630,000
2026 30
Void
UFA
 $3,424,000 1.11% - $12,300,000 $3,424,000
2027
Void
 $1,206,000 0.36% - $12,300,000 -
2028
Void
 $506,000 0.14% - $12,300,000 -
2029
Void
 $506,000 0.12% - $12,300,000 -
Year Age Status Base P5 Salary Signing Proration Restructure Proration Roster Bonus Roster/Gm Bonus Cap Hit Cap % League Cap Dead Cap
2023 27 $1,100,000 $700,000 - - - $1,800,000 0.80% $4,600,000
2024 28 $3,100,000 $700,000 - $300,000 $300,000 $4,400,000 1.72% $4,800,000
2025 29 $1,170,000 $700,000 $506,000 - $229,412 $2,605,412 0.93% $4,630,000
2026 30
Void
UFA
 - $700,000 $506,000 - - $3,424,000 1.11% $3,424,000
2027
Void
 - $700,000 $506,000 - - $1,206,000 0.36% -
2028
Void
 - - $506,000 - - $506,000 0.14% -
2029
Void
 - - $506,000 - - $506,000 0.12% -
Year Age Status Base P5 Salary Signing Bonus Restructure Bonus Roster Bonus Roster/Gm Bonus Cash Total Cash Cumulative Cash Remaining
2023 27 $1,100,000 $3,500,000 - - - $4,600,000 $4,600,000 $12,300,000
2024 28 $3,100,000 - - $300,000 $300,000 $3,700,000 $8,300,000 $7,700,000
2025 29 $1,170,000 - $2,530,000 - $300,000 $4,000,000 $12,300,000 $4,000,000
2026 30
Void
 - - - - - - $12,300,000 -
2027 31
Void
 - - - - - - $12,300,000 -
2028 32
Void
 - - - - - - $12,300,000 -
2029 33
Void
 - - - - - - $12,300,000 -
Contract Notes
  • $4.6M guaranteed at signing (signing bonus + 2023 salary)
  • $2M of 2024 salary fully guarantees 3/16/2024 (injury guaranteed at signing)
  • 2025 Roster Bonus: $300,000 (5th league day of 2025)
  • 2026-2028 years automatically void
  • 2025 Escalator
    55% Snaps in 2023-2024: $700,000
  • Performance Incentives (cumulative)
    40% Snaps + 3 Sacks: $250,000
    50% Snaps + 5 Sacks: $500,000
Source: NFL contract specifics generally collected from verified reports.

2019-2022 Rookie

Contract Terms:
4 yr(s) / $3,673,180
Average Salary:
$918,295
Signing Bonus:
$915,180
GTD at Sign:
$915,180
Total GTD:
$915,180
Free Agent:
2023 / UFA
Spotrac Premium Tools
To see the rest of the Khalen Saunders's contract breakdowns, & gain access to all of Spotrac's Premium tools, sign up today. Already Subscribed? Login Here
Seasons

6 Years

Career Earnings thru 2025

$12,072,728

Earnings w/ Different Teams

2 teams

Earnings Per Year

Year Age Team(s) Status Cash Total Cash Cumulative Awards
2019 23
Active
$1,410,180
$1,410,180
 Champion
2020 24
Active
$497,548
$1,907,728
2021 25
Active
$875,000
$2,782,728
2022 26
Active
$990,000
$3,772,728
 Champion
2023 27
Active
$4,600,000
$8,372,728
2024 28
Active
$3,700,000
$12,072,728
Total      
$12,072,728
$12,072,728
2025 29
Active
$4,000,000
Total
$16,072,728

Earnings Per Team

Years Team Base Signing Roster Restructure Option Incentives Cash Cumulative
4 $2,749,706 $915,180 - - $75,000 $32,842 $3,772,728
2 $4,200,000 $3,500,000 $300,000 - - - $8,300,000
Year Team(s) Age Base Signing Roster Restructure Option Workout Incentives Cash Total Cash Cumulative
2019
23
$495,000
$915,180
$1,410,180
$1,410,180
2020
24
$439,706
$25,000
$32,842
$497,548
$1,907,728
2021
25
$850,000
$25,000
$875,000
$2,782,728
2022
26
$965,000
$25,000
$990,000
$3,772,728
2023
27
$1,100,000
$3,500,000
$4,600,000
$8,372,728
2024
28
$3,100,000
$300,000
$3,700,000
$12,072,728
Total
$6,949,706
$4,415,180
$300,000
$75,000
$32,842
$12,072,728
$12,072,728
2025
29
$1,170,000
$2,530,000
$4,000,000
Total
$8,119,706
$4,415,180
$2,530,000
$300,000
$75,000
$32,842
$16,072,728

Earnings Per Team

Years Team Base Signing Roster Restructure Option Incentives Cash Cumulative
4 $2,749,706 $915,180 - - $75,000 $32,842 $3,772,728
2 $4,200,000 $3,500,000 $300,000 - - - $8,300,000

Injuries

Year Weeks Reason
2021 KC 13 - 18 Knee
2020 KC 2 - 6 Elbow
  • Mar 11, 2025 Converted $2.2M of 2025 salary + a $300,000 roster bonus into signing bonus, adding 1 void year, creating $2.02M of cap with New Orleans (NO)
  • Mar 15, 2023 Signed a 3 year $12.3 million contract with New Orleans (NO)
  • Jun 03, 2019 Signed a 4 year $3.67 million contract with Kansas City (KC)
  • Apr 26, 2019 Drafted by Kansas City (KC): Round 3 (#84 overall)
Year Team GP GS Snaps Snaps% Sack Tackles Total Tackles Solo Tackles Assisted FFum Int
2024 NO 13 10 461 39.10 2 43 18 25 0 1
2023 NO 17 17 523 47.20 0 57 24 33 0 0
2022 KC 16 0 421 36.70 4 48 22 26 0 0
2021 KC 7 0 144 20.50 0 8 2 6 0 0
2020 KC 3 1 74 10.20 0 3 3 0 0 0
2019 KC 12 4 305 27.20 1 22 13 9 0 0

FEATURED PLAYER NEWS

News image
Tracking NFL Free Agency

Follow along with Spotrac's comprehensive coverage of all the trades, releases, signings, & more.

TRANSACTIONS

Mar 11, 2025
Converted $2.2M of 2025 salary + a $300,000 roster bonus into signing bonus, adding 1 void year, creating $2.02M of cap with New Orleans (NO)
Mar 15, 2023
Signed a 3 year $12.3 million contract with New Orleans (NO)
Jun 03, 2019
Signed a 4 year $3.67 million contract with Kansas City (KC)
Apr 26, 2019
Drafted by Kansas City (KC): Round 3 (#84 overall)

TRENDING PLAYERS

  • 1 Cooper Kupp (WR, LAR)
  • 2 DeAndre Hopkins (WR, BAL)
  • 3 Josh Allen (QB, BUF)
  • 4 Daniel Jones (QB, IND)
  • 5 Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (S, PHI)
  • 6 Brock Purdy (QB, SF)
  • 7 Aaron Rodgers (QB, NYJ)
  • 8 Myles Garrett (DE, CLE)
  • 9 Sam Darnold (QB, SEA)
  • 10 Stefon Diggs (WR, HOU)
  • 11 Kirk Cousins (QB, ATL)
  • 12 Kyle Juszczyk (FB, SF)
  • 13 Patrick Mahomes (QB, KC)
  • 14 Trey Hendrickson (DE, CIN)
  • 15 Justin Reid (S, NO)

TRENDING PAGES

  • 1 NFL Free Agents
  • 2 NFL Transactions
  • 3 NFL Cap Tracker
  • 4 NFL Salary Rankings
  • 5 NFL Contracts
Top