Derek Carr spoke on his future with the Saints
“I wouldn't take a pay cut,” Derek Carr said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “Yan, I wouldn't do that. Especially with what I put on tape. Would I restructure? Absolutely. 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 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. And you're trying to get everything you can for your family for it.”
It is not a surprise to see that Carr is not open to a pay cut, as pretty much any player in the NFL would not be open to one. The Saints are notorious for salary cap gymnastics, but it could be justified for them to commit to a rebuild at the moment. However, they could do more with Carr's contract, restructuring it to open flexibility for the 2025 season.
Carr is heading into the third year of his four-year, $150 million contract that he signed with the Saints ahead of the 2023 season. New Orleans signed him at the time in hopes of being competitive, and that has not happened since. Carr is also coming off of an injury that he suffered in Week 14 in the 14-11 win over the New York Giants.
The Saints are heading in a new direction with a new head coach that will be hired in the coming weeks, and it remains to be seen what Carr's role will be in 2025. It will be interesting to see what the Saints decide.
