Derek Carr Contract: $69M Cap Hit On Restructured Deal Next Season

The New Orleans Saints have been in a tough salary cap situation for the past few years, and they have a serious cap hit looming on quarterback Derek Carr. Due to a restructure that helped free up some spending money for the team for the upcoming season, Carr is set to have a cap hit of nearly $70 million next year.

Derek Carr Is Set To Have $69 Million Cap Hit In 2026

Back in early March, the Saints made their decision to keep Carr as their quarterback. His immediate future was up in the air until that point, and it was unclear if the team planned to keep him around for his third season in New Orleans.

In order to bring him back, the Saints restructured Carr’s contract. At the time, the team was more than $44 million over the cap, sitting in the worst financial spot of any team in the NFL. But by converting most of his salary for 2025 into a signing bonus, the team was able to save $30 million for themselves, cutting well into their debt before making other restructures.

But they are just kicking the can down the road. According to Spotrac, Derek Carr is scheduled to have a cap hit of $69,207,000 in 2026.

Difficult to overstate how bad of a decision it was for the 2023 New Orleans Saints to sign 32-year-old Derek Carr to a 4-year, $150,000,000 contract

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) April 11, 2025

The Saints will likely do what they can to get out of that situation next off-season. Carr’s best days are well behind him in terms of NFL production, as he is 8 years removed from being a Pro Bowl regular (he did qualify in 2022, however). He has a 14-13 record in 27 starts with the Saints since the beginning of the 2023 season, but played just 10 games in 2024 due to injury.

Could The Saints Be Eyeing A QB In This Year’s Draft?

His presence on the team makes Carr mostly a stop gap. The Saints will certainly have their eyes open when looking for a new young quarterback over the next 12 months, and that could start as early as next week. There have been whispers about the team potentially eyeing a QB prospect with their 9th overall selection in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, and Shedeur Sanders has been a name that has been floated in recent days and weeks.

The oddsmakers have taken notice. As of Monday, the Saints were listed as +100 favorites to be the team that drafts Sanders. The New York Giants have the second-shortest odds, but are all the way back at +450.

The idea of the Saints looking to get younger at the position will be accelerated due to recent news. It was reported last week that Derek Carr was dealing with a shoulder injury that could end up requiring surgery, which would put some (if not all) of his 2025 campaign in question.