Mike Garafolo: Saints are set to make a decision on Derek Carr within the next few weeks; likely to have multiple suitors if released (31 Viewers)

[Ghost]

Okay, I see that option...



I don't know how you get rid of any of our overpaid older players if we go this route...

The Saints can’t really, or at least not easily. It can be done but there is not a lot of room to maneuver.

What Elvis pointed out (very well I might add) is that there are ways to do this but none without some pain involved.

It’s really a symptom of the cap management of the Saints: “cap doesn’t matter because it always goes up.”

Sure, it does go up almost every year but that doesn’t account for:
1. Bad drafting.
2. A down year in revenues/cap does in fact go down (not a common occurrence sure but it can happen.)
3. Bad FA signings

#3 is the biggest problem right now with Carr’s contract being one of the worst in the league. It’s not team friendly, there isn’t any easy off ramps, contains a fair amount of guaranteed money (especially relative to his play) and has a no-trade clause.

It’s stinks like day-old seafood left on the docks and it’s 100 in the shade. But it also can’t be changed.

 

[Elvis]

The Saints can’t really, or at least not easily. It can be done but there not a lot of room to maneuver.

What Elvis pointed out (very well I might add) is that there are ways to do this but none without some pain involved.

It’s really a symptom of the cap management of the Saints: “cap doesn’t matter because it always goes up.”

Sure, it does go up almost every year but that doesn’t account for:
1. Bad drafting.
2. A down year in revenues/cap does in fact go down (not a common occurrence sure but it can happen.)
3. Bad FA signings

#3 is the biggest problem right now with Carr’s contract being one of the worst in the league. It’s not team friendly, there isn’t any easy off rams, contains a fair amount of guaranteed money (especially relative to his play) and has a no-trade clause.

It’s stinks like day-old seafood left on the docks and it’s 100 in the shade. But it also can’t be changed.

To paraphrase what Mike Triplett said recently on the neworleans.football podcast, kicking the can was always going to be painful to get back out of it when the time came. He also did say we can kick that can forever, but the downside of doing that is that there is almost nothing we can do in free agency when we're digging out every year and have contracts we can't get rid of. Not a huge issue when when we were competing for the division and possibly a championship every year. But that was 5 years ago. We were dead last in the worst division in the NFC and have the 9th pick in the draft this year.

If there ever was going to be a year to pay it off, it's this year. We aren't good. Our best players are old. Expectations are lower than they've been in decades and we have a new young head coach that is ready to do the work. Nick and Mike both think it's the right time to do it, although Nick did add that if they were going to do half measures they might as well go all in instead because they tried half measures last year and we got what we got.

Like Ghost said, Carr's contract is the worst contract on the books and we can do something about it right now. Why wait another year and waste Kellen Moores first year to take the hit in the second year?

 

[StudioSaint]

I think that Moore sees the Saints as a team that can possibly beat a Super Bowl champion when healthy, because Philly only won by only 3 points when they played the Saints. So, I don't see the wholesale changes coming that people are expecting.

I think so too and I think Moore made it clear in the press conference today that he and the Saints have every intention of fielding the team that gives the best chance of competing and winning this year. They aren't going to intentionally field a weaker team this year than they could, just to possibly build a stronger team next year.

What Loomis and Moore understand is that there is no plan that's guaranteed to work out, not even getting higher draft choices and having extra cap space every year. You have to do what gives you the best chance to win every year in a way that gives you as much flexibility for the future as you can have while doing what you can to win right now.

I would not be surprised to see Carr starting next season, along with the same starting O-line. Though the backups will definitely be different.

I would be surprised if the starter next year is not Carr or another veteran that they sign.