By Ross Jackson
As the NFL calendar continues to turn the page toward the next NFL season, an important date is on the horizon: June 2.
On Monday, the NFL deadline will pass which will then allow teams to defer dead cap accelerations into future years for new departures. The post-June 1 cap accounting change is an important date for NFL teams and their management of the salary cap.
New Orleans will have two significant moves that will process following turnover past this deadline.
Derek Carr’s Retirement
The biggest story of the team’s offseason centered around its quarterback. That long-developing story saw its final twist and conclusion on the first day of rookie minicamps when veteran quarterback Derek Carr surprisingly announced his retirement.
That transaction will process after the June 1 date passes. At that time, the Saints will recoup his $1.255 million base salary in 2025. They will also receive an additional $28.745 million in cap relief next year, as Carr’s dead cap will be less than expected thanks to a surprising agreement to forgo his initial $30 million base that was restructured earlier this offseason.
Carr’s retirement should become official as early as Monday, though there’s no difference post-June 1, it’s a move the Saints are likely to want to get past quickly.
Ryan Ramczyk’s Retirement
This one came about in far less shocking fashion than the Carr news. Dealing with a degenerative knee injury, Ramczyk’s retirement may have been announced earlier this offseason, but the speculation dates back to the end of the 2023 season and was further when the 2017 first-rounder didn’t take the field for the entirety of 2024.
Financially, Ramczyk’s retirement will have the same 2025 impact as Carr, a $1.255 million savings. He will leave behind just $11.083 million in total dead cap.
The Saints gained most of their financial relief in this move back in January when his base salary was reduced as a precursor to his retirement. At which time, New Orleans saved $16.7 million.
Once both of these moves process, not only do the Saints gain a little over $2.5 million in new salary, but they also gain more momentum toward their future. Both players’ retirements represent a larger changing of the guard and step out of a previous era and into a new path forward.
Ramczyk’s time in New Orleans will be remembered as one of the best to play his position in town, Carr’s will be a much more embattled remembrance, but these are moves that further the Saints away from what once was and moves them closer to what is yet to come.
