The New Orleans Saints have to take a serious look at the roster this offseason and get the cap under control.
New Orleans won just five games in 2024 and needs to find a way to bounce back in 2025. Adding Kellen Moore as the team's head coach is exciting, but the team is in a tough position cap-wise. New Orleans is last in the league with over -$54 million in cap space.
At this point in the offseason, you've probably heard about the Saints' cap issues. They are prominent and are going to play a big role in how the offseason plays out. The Saints are going to have to make some tough decisions and because of this, NFL.com's Matt Okada floated Derek Carr as a cut candidate.
"Derek Carr, who has ranked 14th on average in passer rating over the past five seasons, is probably a middle-of-the-pack starting quarterback -- but his $51.5 million cap hit in 2025 is the fourth-highest at the position," Okada said. "The complications stem from the variety of options the Saints have with the 33-year-old QB. Cutting him straight-up would leave the team with $50.1 million in dead money and save just $1.3 million against the cap -- doesn't seem viable.
"Designating him as a post-June 1 cut nets $30 million in savings, with "only" $21.5 million in dead money, which is more manageable -- then again, each team can only give that designation to two players per year, and, like Carr, the Saints carrying the next highest cap charges (Cameron Jordan and Taysom Hill) would have to be designated post-June 1 cuts to generate meaningful savings in 2025. Trading Carr before June 1 would snag the team $11.3 million in cap savings and potentially a slight return in draft picks, if the Saints can find a suitor."
Carr signed a four-year, $150 million deal with the Saints but will have a cap hit over $51 million unless something is changed in the deal or he is let go. He's a very good quarterback and it would be nice to keep him, but the cap issues surely will play some sort of role here.
