Underhill: I think everyone involved knows Carr cannot play this year at his current salary (44 Viewers)

[St. Widge]

The cap info is public, his agent can do the math and hold out for a better deal. Because of that, this might be a deal that gets signed at the eleventh hour. I definitely think Carr has all the leverage, particularly if he would consider taking his guaranteed $10m and running as an option.

And yes, if Carr wasn’t willing to work with the Raiders, I think it is unlikely he will want to work with us.

Carr no doubt has the vast majority of the leverage. The only thing the Saints have is the threat that they will cut him and he won't get a free agent deal at close to what he would make even with a pay cut here. And I suspect it's true that he wouldn't get $20 to $30 million per year as a free agent this year.

But, the Saints clearly don't want to cut him due to the cap implications so that lessens what little leverage they have. And, he could decide to call their bluff. I'm not sure what Loomis would do if he did call their bluff, but I suspect he would just do the simple restructure this year and cut him next year with a June 1 designation. It's not what I would do, but at the same point it's probably not fair to hire Moore and tell him you are just going to have to roll out the same team, minus Carr, with whatever we can find in the draft for your first year.

 

[Dome50]

Never underestimate a team's willingness to overpay for a mid quarterback. I'm not so sure Carr agrees to a pay cut. He knows he performed well before all his weapons were injured. Maybe he doesn't see his lack of production as his fault. Do we really not think the Browns/Giants/Jets or some other team might not overpay to get him? Just saying.

 

[St. Geezy]

I think the only business reason for him to not take a significant pay cut is if he thinks the Saints won't cut him if he doesn't take a pay cut. I think it's a game of chicken at this point.

That being said, Carr showed to be vindictive and hard headed when he left the Raiders so he might refuse to do it and force them to cut him and deal with the cap implications. But, I think it's a bad move for him from a business perspective.

I think ML and Moore have already shown their hand on this, and they know that the traditional type restructure is always the last resort.

My guess is that they've at least gotten some indication from Carr's side that they'd be willing to play ball to some degree for team-building purposes. Perhaps there are specific players or positions he's agreed to take a pay cut for the sake of, with specifics contingent on how we do during next week’s legal tampering/free agent negotiation window.

Who knows, but we will have the answer here very very soon.

 

[Elvis]

I think the only business reason for him to not take a significant pay cut is if he thinks the Saints won't cut him if he doesn't take a pay cut. I think it's a game of chicken at this point.

That being said, Carr showed to be vindictive and hard headed when he left the Raiders so he might refuse to do it and force them to cut him and deal with the cap implications. But, I think it's a bad move for him from a business perspective.

He may also need to be in for a physical check on his hand because of his injury guarantee. That is the one big amount of leverage he has right now and what the Raiders avoided by benching him.

 

[BreesusSaves]

Never underestimate a team's willingness to overpay for a mid quarterback. I'm not so sure Carr agrees to a pay cut. He knows he performed well before all his weapons were injured. Maybe he doesn't see his lack of production as his fault. Do we really not think the Browns/Giants/Jets or some other team might not overpay to get him? Just saying.

I personally feel Carr's APY is fine, the issue is the way his contract had to be structured to fit him in made it a situation where if he wasn't truly the guy, it'd be ugly to move on from him.

 

[Ghost]

Never underestimate a team's willingness to overpay for a mid quarterback. I'm not so sure Carr agrees to a pay cut. He knows he performed well before all his weapons were injured. Maybe he doesn't see his lack of production as his fault. Do we really not think the Browns/Giants/Jets or some other team might not overpay to get him? Just saying.

No.

Why would any of those teams pay let alone overpay to get him? In the case of the Browns they can’t. They still have Watson’s contract to contend with and that one makes Carr’s look team friendly in comparison.

In the case of the Giants they can just draft someone significantly cheaper, Jets probably likewise.

Carr is a unique case, one of the most unique we have seen recently for sure. An average QB, who by now should be a backup but is getting paid starter money. That’s likely a statement on the state of QBs in the NFL, not him or his play (or lack there of.) Or put another way, there are so few elite QBs to go around teams like the Raiders and Saints are willing to hang onto him.

To be sure, his contract is not the top end but it’s not exactly low either. Add to this the contract is not team friendly so why would any team do the Saints a solid without a lot in return?

It’s highly likely they won’t.

Never say never, but it would be beyond surprising if the cavalry came charging into rescue the Saints from their own foolishness.

Add to this DC likely knows this his last stop at starter money. As someone said this is indeed a game of chicken.
Who blinks first?

 

[No2DC]

Never underestimate a team's willingness to overpay for a mid quarterback. I'm not so sure Carr agrees to a pay cut. He knows he performed well before all his weapons were injured. Maybe he doesn't see his lack of production as his fault. Do we really not think the Browns/Giants/Jets or some other team might not overpay to get him? Just saying.

I'm fine with that, he's average at best and we need to rebuild. We basically bid against ourselves last time.

 

[Elvis]

No.

Why would any of those teams pay let alone overpay to get him? In the case of the Browns they can’t. They still have Watson’s contract to contend with and that one makes Carr’s look team friendly in comparison.

In the case of the Giants they can just draft someone significantly cheaper, Jets probably likewise.

Carr is a unique case, one of the most unique we have seen recently for sure. An average QB, who by now should be a backup but is getting paid starter money. That likely a statement on the state of QBs in the NFL, not him. Or put another way there are so few elite QBs to go around teams like the Raiders and Saints are willing to hang onto him.

To be sure, his contract is not the top end but it’s not exactly low either. Add to this the contact is not team friendly so why would any team do the Saints a solid without a lot in return?

It’s highly likely they won’t.

Never say never, but it would be beyond surprising if the cavalry came charging into rescue the Saints from their own foolishness.

Add to this DC likely knows this his last stop at starter money. As someone said this is indeed a game of chicken.
Who blinks first?

An interesting statistic I saw on reddit the other day. When Carr gets his $10m roster bonus check next week, he will become the only player in NFL history, at any position, that has been paid $200 million in career earnings to have never won a single playoff game. He is Top 20 all time in earnings.

 

[Ghost]

An interesting statistic I saw on reddit the other day. When Carr gets his $10m roster bonus check next week, he will become the only player in NFL history, at any position, that has been paid $200 million in career earnings to have never won a single playoff game. He is Top 20 all time in earnings.

Move over Sam Bradford.