Saints' decision on Derek Carr ultimately looks like a lose-lose for New Orleans

Things are looking incredibly bleak for the New Orleans Saints as the 2024 NFL season winds down. It will be another year without a playoff berth in the post-Drew Brees era. A seven-game losing streak in the middle part of the season sank the Saints before it really began. Even more concerning, their franchise quarterback Derek Carr has not played in almost a month due to an injury. This team stinks!

One area of regular concern for the Saints has been how front office executive Mickey Loomis goes about using the salary cap. He almost always defers money. While it was an art form for him previously, eventually the bill comes due, as in right now... Carr is halfway through his four-year contract worth $150 million. If he was released this offseason, it would be a $50 million dead cap hit.

Releasing Carr may save the Saints $1.3 million in cap space, but doing so would signify a long overdue, wholesale rebuild coming to New Orleans. Loomis and company have kicked the can down the road so long that the Saints eventually ran out of road. Over the last month or so, the Saints have had to lean on the likes of Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler to man the role of quarterback for them.

To be quite frank, it feels a doomed if they do, doomed if they don't proposition regarding Carr's deal.

New Orleans Saints behind the eight ball with Derek Carr's huge contract

To date, Carr has never led any team he has played for to a division title. Yes, he did lead the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders to the postseason a few times previously, but it has been a trying last four years for the team that used to run the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently do, the Atlanta Falcons are nearly there and the Carolina Panthers are trending up. New Orleans is fading fast.

While there is a chance the Saints may be able to land a quality long-term replacement for Dennis Allen at head coach, Loomis looms too large for my liking in the front office. I have a hard time tolerating people who get to operate without consequence in their jobs. Loomis is one of the better general managers of his generation, but he seems to be a bit past his expiration date in New Orleans.

What I would do if I were the Saints is ride it out with Carr for one more year and then draft a quarterback inside of the top 10 in the 2026 NFL Draft. This year's quarterback class will be led by Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Miami's Cam Ward, but next spring's might be better with Penn State's Drew Allar and Saints legacy quarterback Garrett Nussmeier out of LSU. That seems better.

Carr is not the problem in New Orleans, but rather a symptom of something far more permeating.