And what his contract means for the team this year and the next.
On Saturday evening, the news broke that the New Orleans Saints decided to restructure quarterback Derek Carr’s contract. With this move, it will save the team up to $30 million but his cap hit in 2026 is expected to be around $69 million, according to Kat Terrell of ESPN.
#Saints starting QB Derek Carr, after numerous talks with the team about his 2025 compensation, is getting most of his salary converted for salary cap reasons, per me and @MikeGarafolo.
Carr sticks after all in New Orleans, and he’s set to make his full $40M. pic.twitter.com/TP8gZqdB1g
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2025
Before the restructure, the Saints had the option to cut Carr this offseason, which would have resulted in a cap hit of around $50 million. Additionally, if Carr was designated as a post-June 1st release, the cap hit could have been spread over two years. This, however, wouldn’t have left much room to sign many free agents, and the Saints would have had to restructure nearly every other contract they had.
This move is another instance of the team kicking the can down the road which was fine when the Saints had an all-pro roster and a Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees, but unfortunately, that is no longer the case and while Carr does have a winning record as the QB in New Orleans, I think he no longer has some of the fan base.
However, this is not how things started for Carr in New Orleans. When he first signed with the team in 2023, he was welcomed with open arms. When Carr was hit with his first power outage in the soon-to-be hurricane season, he went to Twitter/X asking for help.
“So… first power outage before I could get our generator hooked up in New Orleans lol. Does anybody want to help?” Carr said on Twitter.
The general response from the fan base was, “Welcome to New Orleans!” with many offering to help out.
Then he made his infamous Chipotle comment in his introductory press conference.
“When we got here, with all the great food, the first place we went to was Chipotle because we didn’t know anything.” Carr said.
But it seems that his struggles on the field and in the locker room in that initial year soon began to split the team. Especially if you look at one of the many tweets former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas sent out later that year, when Thomas believed that a bad pass by Carr injured then-rookie WR Chris Olave.
“Dude tried to lie and say I was jealous of them making Chris WR1 the whole time he can’t even get him a decent ball. He needs his *** whooped.” Thomas said on Twitter.
Then there is also Carr’s injury history. In 2023, he dealt with a concussion, bruised ribs and fought through a sprained AC joint, which was re-aggravated twice. During in 2024 season, Carr injured himself again after attempting to jump over a defender for a first down. Following this play, he did not play another down that season.
Derek Carr launched himself over Austin Jr but appears to brace his fall on his left wrist. He is headed to the injury tent pic.twitter.com/HRwreAtpeg
— Saints Film Room (@SaintsFilmRoom) December 8, 2024
In 2023, he was also caught yelling at wide receiver Chris Olave after the two failed to connect on a deep ball.
The top moment of this week’s mic’d up had to be Travon Walker telling Derek Carr that our DBs had things on lock when he was chewing out Chris Olave.
“It wasn’t there! Derek, it wasn’t there!” #DUUUVAL #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/k7pmWveR56
— Touchdown Jaguars! Podcast (@TDJaguarsPod) October 24, 2023
That combined with his absence after the New Year’s Day tragedy in New Orleans and representing the city during the Super Bowl, there seems to be a huge rift between Carr and some members of the Who Dat Nation who have been pretty vocal on social media. While it is unclear what the team’s plan for him is in 2026, this upcoming season, it looks like some fans may be scarce at the Superdome.