The Carr Conundrum

By: Josh Frey-Sam

Keep an eye on Derek Carr this spring.

There’s still a chance he’s wearing a different jersey by next season.

One rumour out of the Scouting Combine was that the Saints could be looking to turn the page to a new era of quarterback this summer.

With the state of the franchise — an aging core and a new head coach — it makes sense that now would be the time to pull the trigger.

This is something I identified as a possibility before those rumours leaked, which is why I had the New Orleans Saints taking Jaxson Dart in my last mock draft.

I feel even better about my suspicion now, and I’m beginning to wonder if we see the Saints enter the conversation for Shedeur Sanders.

Let’s begin with why this wouldn’t happen, though.

Last week, the Saints restructured Carr’s contract by converting $28.745M of his salary and his $10M roster bonus into a signing bonus. What that allowed the Saints to do is spread that $38.745M across the rest of his contract (one year + three void years), creating nearly $31M of extra cap room this season.

In a way, that kind of locked Carr in for another season because if the Saints really didn’t want him, they could’ve just cut him and not paid him the $30M salary that became guaranteed on March 15.

If you’re a bit lost with all those numbers, that’s okay. In short, if the Saints moved Carr now, they would’ve just paid him $38.745M to play elsewhere.

Now, why would this still happen?

If Carr is dealt after June 1, the Saints could still be okay cap-wise. They’d incur about $39M in dead cap over the next two years.

The other thing is even nearing 34 years old, I believe Carr has a trade market with a couple of QB-desperate teams. Maybe you can get a 4th-round pick for him?

The Giants make a ton of sense in a hypothetical trade. Head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen will be looking for work if this is another failed season, so I think a veteran QB can bring them the instant results they want (why they’re waiting on Aaron Rodgers).

As I mentioned, the Saints are in a weird place as a franchise. Bringing on Kellen Moore is the first step into a new era and the logical next move would be to bring on a QB to be the face of that chapter.

It’s a mess financially, but this is nothing new for the Saints.

If they like a quarterback in this draft, I think it’s absolutely in the realm of possibilities, even if Carr is still there for another season.

And if Carr isn’t moved, you can still bet that this is his last season in New Orleans.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh