I would anticipate the Saints getting creative with their roster decisions. Up first is what to do with Derek Carr. The Saints signed Carr to a $37.5 million per year contract in 2023 and his cap number next year is $51.5 million. The problem is the cost to cut him is $50 million so there is nothing saved by cutting him outright. The Saints also owe him $10 million in guaranteed salary. I can not see the benefit of doubling down on Carr next year. It hasn’t worked at all and he likely will be out of the NFL if released. They could try to bring his salary way down to something like $20 million, freeing up $20 million in the process and then however much more by converting that $20 million into a bonus, but what purpose is there for Carr to be a Saint in 2025?
The Saints should work with Carr on renegotiating his contract in 2024 so that they can designate him a post June 1 release in 2025. How does that work? The team would pay Carr his $10 million guarantee as a bonus in 2024, increasing his 2024 cap charge by $2 million (the team has just enough space to pull this off), and in return he would agree to reduce his salary from $30 million in 2025 to $1.255 million. This would drop Carr’s 2025 salary cap figure from $51.5 million to $14.7 million. Taking into account the loss of $2 million in 2024 carryover, the team’s net cap position would improve by about $34.8 million. Carr would then be designated a post June 1 cut and count for $13.5 million against the salary cap in 2025 once the release is processed. His dead money in 2026 would be $34.7 million.
https://overthecap.com/looking-at-the-saints-salary-cap-situation