New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr is playing his first season in “The Big Easy,” signing a lucrative, four-year contract after leaving the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023.
Carr has battled through injuries in 2023 but has the Saints in the race to win the NFC South.
Derek Carr’s Contract
Carr signed for New Orleans in March 2023, penning a four-year contract worth a total of $150 million. Per Over The Cap, that makes Carr the 14th-highest-paid QB in the NFL.
However, the contract isn’t quite that simple. Due to the struggles in New Orleans getting under the salary cap, there are some complexities in Carr’s contract that give the Saints added flexibility.
Spotrac reports that the contract includes $100 in total guarantees, with the Saints paid up to $60 million fully guaranteed at the time of signing. It also contains a no-trade clause and void years on the end.
Carr’s salary in 2023 and 2024 are also fully guaranteed, and his salary is smaller in 2023 as the Saints try to control their salary cap.
In 2023, Carr’s base salary is only $1.5 million. However, due to the signing bonus having a yearly cash hit of $30 million, Carr only accounts for $7.2 million against the cap, and the Saints fight to get under it. There is some mind-boggling cap magic going on in Louisiana.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that “Carr structured his deal to accommodate the Saints’ cap issues.” The structure of Carr’s contract means he equates to just 3.22% of the Saints total salary cap in 2023.
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For the 2024 season, Carr’s salary will jump up to $30 million and be the same in 2025. In fact, in 2026, the base salary number will jump up again to $50 million. The average salary over the full term of Carr’s contract is $37.5 million.
There are also other intricacies in Carr’s contract. If he is on the roster in March 2024, which he most certainly will be, Carr will activate a clause that makes his roster bonus of $10 million in 2025 fully guaranteed.
Then, if he is still on the roster in March 2025, his $30 million salary for the 2025 season will also become fully guaranteed.
It is also reported by Spotrac that the Saints are carrying a void year on the backend of Carr’s contract with a dead cap hit of $5.7 million in 2027.
The Saints will be well over the cap again heading into 2024, meaning they will need to find a boatload of money to get through the offseason. The expectation is that Carr could look to restructure his contract again during 2024 to help New Orleans fit under the cap.
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