By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — Following Saturday’s news of the New Orleans Saints restructuring Derek Carr’s contract, it became all the more clear. This was expected after Saints general manager Mickey Loomis made it apparent during the NFL Combine.
“I think we feel like we’ve got a guy we can win with and we’re excited about that,” Loomis said of Carr.
Despite that vote of confidence, a new report suggests that Carr may not have been completely bought in on staying in New Orleans.
Per Katherine Terrell and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Carr and his camp were willing to test the open market.
That could have meant allowing Carr to go out in search of a potential trade where he could be a starting quarterback elsewhere. Had the Saints and Carr gone that route and found a partner, the team would have saved just over $11 million against the 2025 salary cap had things not been adjusted further.
New Orleans instead apparently made the decision to restructure his contract, saving up to $30.996 million and keeping the signal caller on the team despite his willingness to pursue other opportunities. Assuming the indication is true, it’s a concerning end to a turbulent offseason between the team and quarterback.
Clearing Contract Hurdle
After head coach Kellen Moore did not publicly commit to Carr as the Week One starter during his introductory press conference, questions began to linger about the veteran passer’s future in New Orleans. That all changed following Loomis’s comments in February.
The contract was always going to be the next natural hurdle. A pay cut was going to be hard to come by since Carr stated at the end of the year that he would not be open to taking one, and Loomis sized Carr up to be a top-10 passer. There was no leverage for New Orleans in pursuing a reduction in salary.
“He did some really good things here, and has done some really good things here,” Loomis said in his end-of-year presser. “If he had qualified, which I’m not sure that he did, his quarterback rating would be in the top 10, his interception rating would be in the top 10, his yards per attempt would be in the top 10 under some really tough circumstances.”
If Carr was willing to pursue another destination, that would be further leverage off the table. There would then be no benefit to taking the pay cut aside from passing on an opportunity to earn some cache with the fanbase. That proved to not be enough.
Eyes to the Future
Because New Orleans likely won’t have an opportunity to get a look at a quarterback of the future in 2025, investing the money saved by Carr’s restructure into the future at other positions becomes a must.
Last year, the Saints relied on one and two year deals in free agency. The team may be better off now trying to lay a foundation for their roster with longer term deals and bigger names.
After a few more moves, New Orleans will be in a fine position to both spend for 2025 and maintain future capital.
New Orleans should now turn their attention to building the team around the quarterback. With Carr and the Saints seemingly Rlikely to split ahead of 2026, building a team that’s ready for its next signal caller can quickly become the priority.
