Saints could get to $14.61 million under the cap without restructuring Derek Carr, after Saints salary cap potentially increases by $5M (14 Viewers)

[cwesleyc]

I keep seeing this over and over by many posters and I'm confused.

We cut Carr and still have to pay dead money after he's gone.
Meanwhile, Carr is the best QB on the roster. Pay money to the best QB you have on the roster not to be here.
Unless they plan on signing another veteran for yet even more money.
I don't see a veteran out there who's going to come cheap. More money problems ensue.

And I'm not even close to being a Carr fan.

Help me out here.

I don't see it, either. Some of these guys just don't like Carr and have made it personal. He is far and away the best QB on the team. Losing for the sake of a high draft pick or cap space is a loser mentality. Lots of teams have picked Qb's in the top 5 of the draft that didn't pan out.

 

[greatshow25]

So can a team restructure a partial amount? Restructure some to get us cap compliant, then cut him and take the hit June 1?

yes you can but with whatever is restructured will be add to the dead money of 2026. Usually if teams restructure someone they don't cut them the same year.

 

[Taker597]

Pay money to the best QB you have on the roster not to be here.

Denver, and Eagles did just fine instead of continuing to be in a bad situation

 

[greatshow25]

I don't see it, either. Some of these guys just don't like Carr and have made it personal. He is far and away the best QB on the team. Losing for the sake of a high draft pick or cap space is a loser mentality. Lots of teams have picked Qb's in the top 5 of the draft that didn't pan out.

it's not about Carr hate it is just business. The Broncos cut there best QB on the roster to try to reset. The Falcons traded the best QB on their roster Ryan and they are about to do it again with Cousins. The eagles did it with Wentz. The Rams with Goff. They saw that these guys weren't their future so they ripped off the band aide and moved on. So you have to do what's best for team.

 

[SuperSaint]

It comes down to which poison you want to take.

Restructure Carr and roll with him this season, or restructure all the other aging vets and risk paying them in a year or two when they aren't here anymore.

We're already paying Michael Thomas, Jameis Winston, and Marshon Lattimore not to be here.

 

[oysters]

it's not about Carr hate it is just business. The Broncos cut there best QB on the roster to try to reset. The Falcons traded the best QB on their roster Ryan and they are about to do it again with Cousins. The eagles did it with Wentz. The Rams with Goff. They saw that these guys weren't their future so they ripped off the band aide and moved on. So you have to do what's best for team.

But they didn't have to restructure the whole team to make those cuts. Denver kept Wilson for a year because of the cap. Then they cut him when they could. Car isn't the answer long term but neither are most of the players everyone wants to restructure instead. I'd rather keep one guy who, let's be honest, is still a good player despite what others will say. Let the aging defense go then cut Carr next year when it's more palatable.

 

[VolSaint]

But they didn't have to restructure the whole team to make those cuts. Denver kept Wilson for a year because of the cap. Then they cut him when they could. Car isn't the answer long term but neither are most of the players everyone wants to restructure instead. I'd rather keep one guy who, let's be honest, is still a good player despite what others will say. Let the aging defense go then cut Carr next year when it's more palatable.

If it was just a function of deciding between Carr and the vets, that would make sense. But I think the objective is to avoid the future $80 million cap hit by not restructuring the contract and then doing a post June 1st cut. Most of the vets contracts expire after 2025, meaning we wouldn't be signing up for even more cap hits, just spreading the hits out to future years where there's more cap space.

 

[Elvis]

But they didn't have to restructure the whole team to make those cuts. Denver kept Wilson for a year because of the cap. Then they cut him when they could. Car isn't the answer long term but neither are most of the players everyone wants to restructure instead. I'd rather keep one guy who, let's be honest, is still a good player despite what others will say. Let the aging defense go then cut Carr next year when it's more palatable.

Maybe not as many but they restructured a lot of money in order to cut Wilson? Then they made the playoffs with a rookie and are starting this year with $41m in cap space to build further with.

Broncos clear another $20 million in cap space through contract restructures

The Denver Broncos continue to expand their salary cap space, which now stands just north of $43 million a day before the start of NFL free agency.

www.milehighreport.com

And the problem with choosing to move on from all the old guys this year is that there is not enough money and not enough draft picks to replace them as starters at so many positions. We do have a young QB that the team is reportedly high on that could compete against a reclamation project QB and a draft pick without using nearly as many resources. And then they could make a move for a QB in next years draft if that doesn't work out.

 

[St. Widge]

But they didn't have to restructure the whole team to make those cuts. Denver kept Wilson for a year because of the cap. Then they cut him when they could. Car isn't the answer long term but neither are most of the players everyone wants to restructure instead. I'd rather keep one guy who, let's be honest, is still a good player despite what others will say. Let the aging defense go then cut Carr next year when it's more palatable.

The thing is that we don't have any viable options or the money to buy replacements for all those aging vets. On the other hand, there are options that are on the team and that we can afford to replace Carr. And frankly, I think Cam, Demario, Tyrann, and Hill are exactly the kind of payers you want on your team to teach the young players the expectations this team has and to help those kids grow while you are rebuilding. Plus, all or most of those guys would likely take pay cuts to stay whereas Carr has already said that he will not take a pay cut. If Carr was willing to take a pay cut then the situation would be different, but he isn't willing to take one.

 

[oysters]

Maybe not as many but they restructured a lot of money in order to cut Wilson? Then they made the playoffs with a rookie and are starting this year with $41m in cap space to build further with.

Broncos clear another $20 million in cap space through contract restructures

The Denver Broncos continue to expand their salary cap space, which now stands just north of $43 million a day before the start of NFL free agency.

www.milehighreport.com

And the problem with choosing to move on from all the old guys this year is that there is not enough money and not enough draft picks to replace them as starters at so many positions. We do have a young QB that the team is reportedly high on that could compete against a reclamation project QB and a draft pick without using nearly as many resources. And then they could make a move for a QB in next years draft if that doesn't work out.

I do see your point. I guess I just don't see Rattler as the answer either but can see the benefit of playing out the season with him to find out for sure. Will the fans be patient enough to let a bad season play out without losing their shirt? That's a whole other topic.

 

[Elvis]

I do see your point. I guess I just don't see Rattler as the answer either but can see the benefit of playing out the season with him to find out for sure. Will the fans be patient enough to let a bad season play out without losing their shirt? That's a whole other topic.

I think fans will be far more patient in the first year of a new era with a new coach than the 3rd year of the "continuity" coach, as long as they can see the vision and see some progress. Topping 5 wins shouldn't be a prohibitive goal with or without Carr because we have the 2nd easiest 2025 schedule as it stands right now.

As far as Rattler, I'm not sold on him yet either. I'm hopeful though. But not even hopeful enough to just give him the job and to not draft a QB if the right grade at the right pick presents itself.

 

[Nolan]

"I’m not here to make an argument for one thing or the other. You can convince me on either path, which is usually the case when something reaches a legitimate crossroads. My take really boils down to this: I think Carr is the best option to win games in 2025, but there are valid reasons to start rebuilding now and take your lumps while you reset."

Nugget from Underhill from his latest piece. Of course anyone on here who prefers the latter just gets painted as a blinded Carr hater

 

[Elvis]

"I’m not here to make an argument for one thing or the other. You can convince me on either path, which is usually the case when something reaches a legitimate crossroads. My take really boils down to this: I think Carr is the best option to win games in 2025, but there are valid reasons to start rebuilding now and take your lumps while you reset."

Nugget from Underhill from his latest piece. Of course anyone on here who prefers the latter just gets painted as a blinded Carr hater

BREAKING: Nick Underhill rides the fence on his hate for Derek Carr. More at 11.

/s

 

[DSnfla]

I just don’t get this notion that the team would be this desperate to move on from a player that was a top 10 rated passer, playing with mostly depth players and one of the worst head coaches in league history.

Unless you can get compensation and a team takes on some of the cap burden, it just doesn’t make sense to make this move this current year.

Next year is a different story though.

You listen to people here and you’d think Carr is coming off one of the worst seasons of all-time.

Carr hate is strong with some of these people. You'd think they got food poisoning at Chipotle

 

[DSnfla]

I think it's more of Carr and how he rubs quite a few of the players the wrong way. He's not elite enough to get past that issue.

It's BWS. Brees Withdrawl Syndrome. Nothing short of Carr making the NFCCG would have been enough for these people Plus the DA hate that rubbed off on Carr