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NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints have restructured the deals of wide receiver Marques Colston, linebacker David Hawthorne, guards Ben Grubbs and Jahri Evans, according to media reports.
The moves free up millions in cap space.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that Colston restructured his deal.
Saints, in need of cap space, completed a restructured deal with WR Marques Colston. Have offered W. Smith and Vilma lesser deals to stay
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) February 27, 2013
La Canfora didn't release any information on the terms of the deal.
ESPN's Pat Yasinskas reported the news on Evans, Grubbs and Hawthorne.
Yasinskas reported that the Saints dropped Evans' base salary from $7.2 million to $3.04 million. They'll pay Evans a $4.16 signing bonus up front to get that done.
"Evans had been scheduled to have a $9.86 million cap figure. But the restructure drops that figure to $6.74 million," Yasinskas writes.
Yasinskas says the Saints cleared $2.05 million in cap space by restructuring Hawthorne's deal. His cap figure went from $4.76 million to $2.51 million.
The Saints freed up $3 million of cap space in the Grubbs restructuring. Yasinskas says his base salary dropped from $5.2 million to $1.2 million in exchange for $4 million in signing bonuses.
La Canfora said the Saints have offered defensive end Will Smith and linebacker Jonathan Vilma lesser deals to stay with the team.
The Saints haven't confirmed any of the deals being restructured.
