The NFL offseason has arrived, and the New Orleans Saints are projected to be significantly over the salary cap. That’s a story that’s as old as time. Every year, New Orleans has to make a ton of moves and contract restructures to become a cap compliant team, and 2025 will be no different. While the official salary cap hasn’t been announced yet, the Saints are projected to be nearly $55 million over the cap.
Somehow, the team will open up the necessary space, and that could be achieved by saying a few painful goodbyes. New Orleans has several high-paid veteran players, and moving on from them this offseason— by trade or release —will open up cap space. The Saints must decide if they want to take that approach, but it definitely has to be considered.
Dan Graziano, in a recent piece for ESPN, looked at salary cap questions for all 32 teams. For New Orleans, Graziano discussed the possibility of the team cutting two established veterans: Derek Carr and Cam Jordan.
ESPN names Derek Carr and Cam Jordan as possible cap casualties for the Saints
It’s been clear that both guys’ future are up in the air. Cam Jordan, entering the final year of his contract, isn’t the player he once was, and he has a $20 million cap hit. Carr, on the other hand, has two years left on his deal, with a cap hit north of $50 million in 2025. However, he hasn’t been the difference maker the Saints hoped he would be when they signed him.
"Quarterback Derek Carr is set to make $40 million this season. Of that, $10 million is already guaranteed and the remaining $30 million becomes guaranteed in mid-March. His cap number is over $51 million. To knock that down, the Saints might need to extend him, but they could save $30 million on this year's cap if they made him a post-June 1 cut."Dan Graziano (ESPN)
Graziano bought up the possibility of extensions for both players, a method the team had used in the past to spread the money around, but that’s how the Saints got in the position they are now. New Orleans shouldn’t want to extend either of these players.
Additionally, it’ll be hard to trade either one of these guys— especially Carr since he has a no-trade clause. That means the Saints either need to cut them and eat the dead cap hit, or let them finish out their contracts over the next two seasons.