Jairus Byrd was considered by many to be the crown jewel of this year’s free agent class on the defensive side of the ball. The Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams also showed a lot of interest in the star safety, but then Byrd decided to shock the world on the first day of free agency.

It was midway through the opening of free agency and there weren’t many rumors going on about Byrd and where he was visiting or what team was the favorite to sign him. Then Adam Schefter reported very surprising news, Byrd was on his way to New Orleans to talk to the team and visit the Saints’ facilities. Twitter was ablaze wondering how the Saints could possibly afford to sign Byrd with Jimmy Graham wanting an extension and the team already strapped for cash. But just a few short hours later, Schefter broke news again with the announcement Byrd was signing with the Saints.

Byrd wanted to be the highest paid safety in the league and New Orleans gave him just what he wanted, a six-year deal worth $54 million total and $28 million of that guaranteed. He also landed in a situation where he jumped from a Buffalo Bills team who never made the playoffs in Byrd’s six years with the team, to a New Orleans’ franchise that has made the playoff four out of the last five seasons. It was a dream situation for Byrd, a place where he could compete in the playoffs and be the highest paid safety in the league.

The move was more surprising from the Saints’ perspective, a team that was struggling to stay just under the cap and still had holes to fill on both sides of the ball. But New Orleans’ was in need of single-high safety that could fit perfectly into Rob Ryan’s defense, and Byrd is a dream player for Ryan.

Now the Saints have arguably the best safety duo in the league with Byrd and Kenny Vaccaro, and one of the best defenses in the NFC. A team that once relied entirely on the passing game, now has one of the best secondaries in the league and a real balance on both sides of the ball.

But there are still a lot of questions surrounding this move and just how the Saints are going to handle their cap situation from here on out. New Orleans has already cut ties with cornerback Jabari Greer, defensive end Will Smith, safety Roman Harper, linebacker Jonathan Vilma, wide receiver Lance Moore and more cuts are on the way.

Meanwhile the team franchised Graham with a tight end tag for $7 million and will try and work on an extension with him. They also will have to set several million aside for the 2014 NFL Draft.

The Saints have now put themselves in a sticky situation, one that could lead to more guys like Darren Sproles, Curtis Lofton and other key contributors from last season may be handed their walking papers. Meanwhile the team now is out of money and unable to re-sign center Brian De La Puente and right tackle Zack Strief. Losing both starters would leave the team without a center and right tackle and unable to sign replacements, they will either have to fill the spots in with rookies or use backups from last season. This also doesn’t account for the team’s need at linebacker, cornerback, wide receiver and running back.

Byrd brings the playmaking ability the Saints’ defense has desperately been looking for and as long as you have Drew Brees and Sean Payton, you are going to win games. But they are now in a very problematic situation involving their cap space and finding ways to fill out the rest of their roster. It’s an extremely risky move by the Saints and one that could easily decide the outcome of their season.