Saints save salary cap space, restructure contract with QB Derek Carr

There it is. Derek Carr won’t be taking a pay cut — instead, the New Orleans Saints are restructuring their contract with Carr to save about $30 million and ensure he’ll start at quarterback to open the 2025 season. News of Carr’s restructure was first reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, and confirmed by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

The Saints had initially approached Carr about taking a pay cut, but he dug in his heels and got his money. He’ll received a fully-guaranteed $40 million this year. But this restructure did reduce Carr’s salary cap hit down from $51,458,000 to about $20,462,000. The Saints are going to save almost $31 million by restructuring his contract. They didn’t need his permission to do a restructure, which is standard around the league.

So what does this mean? For one thing, it guarantees Carr will be starting in 2025; not Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener, or a rookie like Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart. For another, it doesn’t preclude the Saints from adding a quarterback through the draft who better fits head coach Kellen Moore’s system. It also doesn’t mean Carr will be the starter beyond 2025. While his 2026 salary cap hit is now climbing up to over $69.2 million, the Saints could release him with a post-June 1 designation next offseason and get more than $40.4 million of it back in savings.

This delays a split that now feels inevitable. Carr has only won one more game than he’s lost in two years as the starter in New Orleans. He could very well turn things around in 2025, but it’s looking more and more likely he won’t be here in 2026.