Agent: Saints offered Jahri Evans pay cut before releasing him

Jahri Evans declined to take a pay cut before the New Orleans Saints released him, according to his agent, Jerrold Colton.

Evans was named to six Pro Bowls over the course of his career, but entered a period of sharp decline before the Saints released him Monday.

"The Saints came to us for the second year in a row about doing a little contract adjustment and pay cut this year," Colton told Philadelphia radio station WWIP on Thursday. "We weren't going to do it again.

"He's healthy and hungry and looking forward to the next chapter of his career."

New Orleans negotiated a restructured term last summer that saved the club $4 million in cap space, a necessity for a team that boxed itself into an untenable cap situation.

On his pedigree alone, Evans may see a number of suitors during free agency. He could provide an inexperienced club with invaluable veteran experience.