NFL Rumors: Derek Carr’s Saints Contract Restructured to Save $23M in 2024 Cap Space

Mike Chiari@@mikechiariFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 23, 2024

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The New Orleans Saints are reportedly making a significant procedural move in an effort to get under the salary cap before the start of the NFL new league year.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Friday that the Saints are set to restructure quarterback Derek Carr’s contract, which will save them about $23 million against the cap.

Per OverTheCap.com, the Saints are farther over the salary cap than any team in the NFL, as they have -$76.5 million in cap space before the Carr restructure.

New Orleans signed Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract last offseason after he was released by the Las Vegas Raiders, and he is set to earn a base salary of $30 million in 2024.

Fowler noted that the contract restructure will take part of his $30 million salary and convert it into a bonus to save against the cap.

Restructuring ensures that Carr will return as the Saints’ starting quarterback in 2024, and it likely means he will be back in 2025 as well, or else New Orleans will have to eat a significant amount of dead cap.

According to Spotrac, Carr has a $10 million bonus that is guaranteed in three weeks, meaning his 2025 dead cap hit will rise to a whopping $50.13 million.

Carr, 32, started all 17 games for the Saints in 2023, going 9-8. He also completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

New Orleans narrowly missed the playoffs, as the 9-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South on a tiebreaker and qualified for the postseason as a result.

During his nine-year run with the Raiders, Carr established himself as the all-time franchise leader in passing yardage and passing touchdowns, plus he was named a Pro Bowler on four occasions.

However, the Raiders only reached the playoffs twice during his tenure and failed to win a playoff game.

The Saints have struggled to find an answer at quarterback since the retirement of future Hall of Famer Drew Brees, but Carr undoubtedly performed better than Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton did the previous two seasons.

New Orleans is fully committed to Carr at this point, and the focus now shifts to additional restructures and releases in order to get under the cap and perhaps create a bit of cap space to make some moves in free agency.