The New Orleans Saints face the league’s worst salary cap position with a high-priced quarterback in Derek Carr. But the solution is clear for Saints leadership.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis made it clear that the team will keep Carr during a press conference on Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine.
“I think we feel like we’ve got a guy we can win with,” Loomis told reporters.
Loomis isn’t alone in that position. First year-Saints head coach Kellen Moore also indicated his confidence in Carr. Moore took the job this offseason after the Saints parted ways with former head coach Dennis Allen in the middle of the 2024 season.
“We feel fortunate to have Derek here, the experience he has. He’s a big-time quarterback in this league,” Moore told reporters on Wednesday via ESPN.com.
Moore previously expressed his excitement of having Carr at quarterback during his introductory press conference on Feb. 13.
“I have so much respect for him, the journey that he’s been on as a starter in this league,” Moore told reporters on Feb. 13. “He’s a premier player in this league, he’s had a great journey. Really excited to team up with him and go through this process.”
Carr completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,145 yards and 15 touchdowns versus five interceptions in 10 games played. He missed time due to an oblique injury in Week 5, and suffered a hand injury in Week 14.
Carr has been otherwise durable throughout his career where he has played at least 15 games every season, except for 2024. Entering his 12th NFL season, Carr will cost the Saints a cap hit of $51.45 million amid his four-year $150 million deal.
“Yeah, it’s tight,” Loomis said. “There’s no secret to that, and his is a big number, so we’re going to hopefully be able to maneuver.”
That said, a pay cut is out of the question for Carr. He made that clear in a Jan. 6 press conference right after the season.
“Especially with what I put on tape. Would I restructure? Absolutely,” Carr told reporters on Jan. 6. “I'll always help the team that way. But there’s some things that you put out there that you earned.”
“Even in some cases it could be even worse, but I felt confident when I signed it that this would give the team the best flexibility at the time. ... But there’s always a kind of respect as a quarterback you’re like, well still we’re in that respectful lane. ‘We’re good. Build the team.’ But yeah, I wouldn’t take anything less to do this.”
“It’s hard enough putting our bodies through it,” Carr continued. “And you’re trying to get everything you can for your family for it.”
A Bakersfield, California, native, Carr became a star at Fresno State where he threw for 12,843 yards and 113 touchdowns versus 24 interceptions between 2009 and 2013. The then-Oakland Raiders drafted him with the 36th pick during the second round of the 2014 draft. He followed that up with four Pro Bowl appearances amid 35,222 yards passing for 217 touchdowns versus 99 interceptions in nine seasons with the Raiders.
Since the Raiders couldn’t trade Carr in 2023, the team released him, which led to his signing in New Orleans. Carr didn’t miss a beat in his first season with the Saints as he threw for 3,878 yards and 25 touchdowns versus eight interceptions in 2023.
“I got to take care of myself and then the rest after that is really out of my hands,” Carr said on Jan. 6. “I’ve had great conversations with everyone in this building with Mickey, with (owner) Ms. (Gayle) Benson, with everybody. And we all have mutual feelings and so my confidence level is very high.”
“And what can happen, what could happen, we’ve shown what it could possibly be at times. The hard part is we had to deal with some stuff that we didn’t get to see that full picture all the time. So we'll see,” Carr added.
