Saints get salary-cap relief with QB contract restructuring

Derek Carr. Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Saints get major salary-cap relief with Derek Carr contract restructuring

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated 2/23/24

The New Orleans Saints continue to maneuver around their salary-cap death spiral by moving money around. Quarterback Derek Carr is the latest to help them out with a contract restructure.

The Saints and Carr agreed to convert a portion of the quarterback’s $30 million base salary to a signing bonus, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. The move is expected to open roughly $23 million in cap space for the team.

The #Saints are restructuring QB Derek Carr’s contract for salary cap purposes, a move expected to save the club around $23M in cap relief, per sources. Carr is due $30M in base salary, so converting a portion of that into a signing bonus can provide immediate savings

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 23, 2024

The Saints’ efforts to aggressively chase championships over the past decade-plus continue to force them to make moves like this. The organization continues to kick the can down the road so they can continue to build a somewhat competitive roster and avoid the bottom falling out completely. This move was widely expected and likely means they are committed to Carr for at least one more season and possibly two.

The organization has more work to do to get under the cap for the 2024 season. Even after factoring in the Carr restructure, they are still roughly $53 million over the cap, and that is without accounting for draft picks and any re-signings that need to be made.

#Saints create $23M in cap room with restructure of Derek Carr's contract. About $53M million more to go…https://t.co/T7yPJDAKLV

— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) February 23, 2024