The New Orleans Saints have had arguably the most surprising offseason of any team in the National Football League.
It's been a wild ride. New Orleans hired an exciting, new head coach in Kellen Moore and has been hard at work getting his staff in order and bringing in a completely new system. That in itself is pretty big, but is one of the smaller moves of the offseason for New Orleans.
Despite some salary cap issues, the Saints found creative ways to keep the majority of the 2024 roster together. When the offseason began, there were questions about the future of Derek Carr. There were rumors that he was open to a trade and it wasn't clear if he would be back. New Orleans did make its thoughts clear, though, and restructured his deal and publicly comitted to him as the team's starting quarterback for the 2025 season.
Things changed, though. Carr is dealing with a shoulder injury that led him to retire from the National Football League. With this decision, the Saints also will be getting some unexpected cap relief. The Saints have had some salary cap issues in recent years, but Carr's retirement is going to have a positve long-term impact.
The Athletic's Mike Sando shared a column in which he highlighted his favorite move from each franchise. For New Orleans, his favorite move was Carr's retirement and cap savings.
"New Orleans Saints," Sando said. "Getting Derek Carr to forfeit $30 million in previously guaranteed money upon the quarterback’s retirement gives the Saints a chance to finally reset after four years of mortgaging the future without reaching the playoffs. Whether the Saints will actually refocus on the long term remains unclear, but the team is in a better position to do so with Carr’s contract coming off the books in 2027."
The Saints have an exciting, young quarterback now in Tyler Shough and are in a better position cap-wise. Things are trending in the right direction in New Orleans.
