The first quarterback domino of the offseason fell, as the New Orleans Saints agreed to terms on a contract with free-agent QB Derek Carr on Monday. The two sides agreed to a four-year deal worth $150 million with $100 million in total guarantees, according to NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
Carr structured his contract to accommodate New Orleans’ cap issues, as he will receive $70 million fully guaranteed — $60 million at signing and another $10 million in Year 3 vesting after Year 1. Both Rapoport and Nick Underhill of NewOrleansFootball.com reported that the cap figure for Carr will be low in 2023, as the Saints are going for it in 2023, especially when considering how wide open the NFC South currently is.
According to Garafolo, Carr received a no-trade clause from the Saints as a part of his new contract. This is the same stipulation the four-time Pro Bowler had with the Raiders, which allowed him to control his future and his free-agent process.
The NFL world reacted as news of Carr’s massive contract had Twitter buzzing. It also left many asking what Lamar Jackson and Daniel Jones will receive on the open market if Carr received an annual average of $37.5 million per year.
Haven't even checked to see if this is still true but my understanding of the Saints is that they're always somehow a) mediocre, b) competitive, and c) a billion dollars over the cap in a way that nobody can understand and they never get punished for. So Derek Carr makes sense
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) March 6, 2023
[Ian Rapoport on Twitter, Mike Garafolo on Twitter, Nick Underhill on Twitter]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.