Saints' Salary Cap After Derek Carr's Restructured Contract, Early Free Agency Moves

The New Orleans Saints entered the offseason with a desperate need for salary cap relief, and some of their early free agency moves will hopefully help them out.

Saints quarterback Derek Carr was the first to try to help the team's flexibility in free agency, as ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Feb. 23 that he restructured his contract for the 2024 season. He was originally set to receive $30 million in base salary alone after signing a four-year, $150 million contract with the Saints last offseason. The move opened up $23 million in cap space, per Fowler.

On Monday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that New Orleans reworked the final year of linebacker DeMario Davis' contract and replaced it with a two-year, $17.25 million contract that includes $13.25 million fully guaranteed. Also, ESPN's Katherine Terrell reported last week that safety Tyrann Mathieu agreed to a two-year extension that will reduce his salary for the 2024 season.

Still, there is much to address for the Saints, as Over The Cap currently lists them near the bottom of the league with just about $1.1 million in available salary cap space.

It was reported that safety Marcus Maye will be cut, but it will only save the team $1.1 million. Star defensive end Cameron Jordan also restructured his contract to free up $1.5 million for New Orleans, per Schefter, who added that guard Cesar Ruiz, defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd and center Erik McCoy also had their contracts reworked.

In his first year in New Orleans, Carr started all 17 games and helped lead the team to a 9-8 record. He threw for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 68.4 percent of his passes. His eight picks were his lowest since 2019.

Despite Carr's solid year, the Saints missed the playoffs for the third straight season. Carr was also banged up at various points throughout the year, suffering a sprained AC joint in his shoulder in Week 3 and leaving two games with concussions.

Carr received a vote of confidence from Saints general manager Mickey Loomis after the season.

"I think he did a lot of good things," Loomis said during his season-ending news conference. "It wasn't perfect, for certain, but I think he did a lot of good things."

Loomis also showed support for Saints head coach Dennis Allen, who some speculated was on the hot seat. However, longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, wide receivers coach Kodi Burns, running backs coach Joel Thomas and senior offensive assistant Bob Bicknell all departed the team's coaching staff.

Carr will be looking to put together a more consistent season in 2024 to help lead the Saints back to the postseason.

New Orleans is hoping these early contract restructures will give the team the chance to add more talent around Carr to improve its roster for next season.