The New Orleans Saints’ quarterback situation has been a precarious one this season.
With three players having already started games and injury potentially sidelining the top option in the room, the Saints are sure to be considered a quarterback-needy team in the very near future. New Orleans would love to learn by the end of this season that their rookie passer Spencer Rattler could be an option for them in 2025.
But the team’s top quarterback, Derek Carr, has a decently-sized contract that could make things cumbersome next year. That is, if New Orleans decides to keep him on the book.
ESPN Insider Dan Graziano broke down some of the considerations the Saints could be making when it comes to Carr’s future with the club in a recent story.
“Carr is under contract for $40 million in 2025.” Graziano writes. “Of that, $10 million is a roster bonus that’s already fully guaranteed and will pay out in March no matter what. The remaining $30 million is guaranteed against injury and becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the new league year in March. If the Saints want to move on from Carr after this season, they’d have to release him before (that) $30 million becomes fully guaranteed.“
The $30 million guarantee in question solidifies on the third day of the 2025 league year, March 14.
But the Saints would first have to have Carr, who is currently dealing with a left hand injury and concussion, be cleared to play. Otherwise, if the veteran quarterback can not pass a physical, the $30 million would immediately set in because of the injury guarantee on his contract.
That complicates matters.
A trade option would require Carr to waive his no-trade clause, for which there would be very little reason for him to agree.
New Orleans would maximize its savings by designating Carr as a post-June 1 release, saving $30 million in total because of the deferment of salary guarantees into 2026. A helpful mechanism that each NFL club is allowed to use twice per offseason.
However, the Saints would have to carry that cap hit until June 2 before they would get any kind of relief for the present year. Meaning that money would still be spoken for all throughout free agency and the draft. The challenge there is that New Orleans is already about $63 million over the salary cap for 2025.
It is possible for the team to clear enough cap space while still carrying Carr’s deal to be both compliant and even have a small amount of spending money in March. But it would require restructuring a few more aging contracts, the retirement of right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and some cuts in order to make it all work. A surprise retirement here or there would aid the cap situation as well, but would have an impact on on-field productivity.
The most likely situation is that New Orleans restructures Carr’s deal as a means of getting under the salary cap and continues with him as their starting passer. Giving Rattler more time to develop or the next head coach a chance to pick their choice at quarterback in 2026.
But there are several options on the table.
All-in-all the Saints are by no means married to Carr and his deal for 2025. But they’re at best in a domestic partnership. A separation is possible, as Graziano notes, but there will still be hoops through which the team must jump.
