Derek Carr Reportedly Was 'Open' to Exploring Saints Exit Before Contract Restructure

The Derek Carr saga has taken another turn.

The veteran quarterback, who may miss the 2025 season with a shoulder injury that wasn't publicly known about until last week, reportedly was interested in a potential change of scenery this offseason before the Saints essentially nixed that by restructuring his contract.

According to ESPN's Katherine Terrell, "League sources told ESPN that Carr was open to testing the market and looking elsewhere in the days leading up to the restructure. New Orleans has language in all of its players' contracts called the 'automatic conversion clause' that allows the team to restructure any contract. According to the language in the contract, a refusal or failure to promptly execute the new contract would put the player in default of the contract. While the restructure freed up salary cap space in 2025, it also tied the Saints to Carr this year by fully guaranteeing both his $40 million base salary and $10 million roster bonus."

It's unclear when the Saints even knew of Carr's injury this offseason, though per that report, "some of the assistant coaches were unaware of the situation before the news leaked."

If he does miss the year, the Saints have a quarterback problem, with only Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and Ben DiNucci currently on the roster. It also seems clear, at this point, that Carr would be happy changing organizations. So both the short- and long-term solution to the team's current quarterback predicament could come at Thursday's NFL draft, where the Saints hold the No. 9 overall pick. Suddenly, the position feels very much in play for the Saints in the first round.