Mickey Loomis has certainly made a mess of things. While he believes he has tied a most impressive Gordian knot, it is merely a web of confusion for the New Orleans Saints in terms of the salary cap. Matt Okada of NFL.com broke down some of the most notable cut candidates for this offseason. While there is a way the Saints could save some money, it will be painful to move on from Derek Carr.
Okada has the Saints currently sitting at $54.1 million over the cap. This is just par for the course with the way Loomis does business. He defers money as far out as he can, making a small fortune for being the best in the business at restructurings. At the end of the day, there is only so much road to kick the can down. The Saints have found themselves in disarray of late because of his gymnastics.
With Carr entering year three of his deal with the Saints, he is a $51.5 million cap hit for 2025. If the Saints were to cut him, he would be a $50.1 million dead-cap hit, with only a little more than $1 million in savings. While they could save some money by designating him as a post-June 1 cut, that $30 million in savings would still only leave the Saints with $21.5 million in dead money. That is not great.
The Saints have to figure out what to do with Cameron Jordan and Taysom Hill as well this offseason.
New Orleans Saints are in dire straits financially regarding Derek Carr
Even though Carr is not worth what his salary entails, it serves the Saints to let him be their starter for at least one year. I understand that New Orleans has the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but now is not the time for them to use their first first-round pick on a quarterback since taking Archie Manning No. 2 overall out of Ole Miss way back in 1971. The time to draft a quarterback is in 2026.
This is because a local product in LSU star Garrett Nussmeier projects to be a top-10 pick next spring. It just so happens that his father Doug Nussmeier was just hired to be the Saints' new offensive coordinator. Nussmeier and new head coach Kellen Moore have been on the same NFL coaching staffs since Moore retired from playing to join the 2018 Dallas Cowboys. Nussmeier feels inevitable.
Moore may have a longer runway than ownership ever gave Dennis Allen, but Loomis and the front office need to be smart about this. Cutting Carr will put them in a very bad spot financially with all that dead cap. What if he plays well next year? Would you rather it be for the Saints than some other franchise? We still have a whole year to figure out who the Saints' starting quarterback will be in 2026.
I may like the idea of Nussmeier playing for the Saints, but let's not put the cart before the horse here.