New Orleans Saints face $69M question mark for 2026 as Kellen Moore begins new era with aging Derek Carr at helm

New Leadership and Transitional Shift

The New Orleans Saints are entering a period of transformation with the debut of head coach Kellen Moore. The franchise has embraced a new era that promises fresh direction and renewed focus on both strategy and player development. This change in leadership marks the beginning of a journey aimed at re-establishing the team’s competitive edge.

Financial Constraints and Contract Challenges

Amid the optimism of a new era, the organization faces significant financial hurdles. An aging quarterback, whose performance has been a cornerstone of the team’s recent history, now comes with a looming contract structure that could burden the salary cap with a considerable question mark beyond 2025. Years of aggressive spending have contributed to a scenario where managing cap space in the coming seasons will require careful recalibration.

Roster Adjustments and Future Strategy

Recent roster decisions indicate that the front office is actively working to balance immediate competitive needs with long-term fiscal responsibility. The moves made suggest a commitment to restructuring talent and harnessing potential from younger players, all while contending with the limitations imposed by existing contracts. The approach reflects a broader strategy to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.

Outlook and Strategic Considerations

The dual challenge of navigating an aging core and managing financial constraints presents a defining moment for the franchise. Success in the near future will depend on how effectively the team can integrate fresh leadership with pragmatic financial decisions. The path forward demands a synthesis of on-field innovation and careful budgeting, ensuring that competitive performance is not compromised by cap challenges in the coming seasons.

BREAKING: Saints sign veteran wide receiver Dante Pettis ahead of free agency on 1-year deal following……..

The New Orleans Saints have made another move prior to the opening of 2025 free agency, bringing back veteran wide receiver Dante Pettis on a one-year deal, as was initially reported by Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team. While the Saints have not made many moves ahead of free agency due to their salary cap situation, they did tender exclusive rights free agent Nephi Sewell recently as well.

Pettis signed with the Saints during the season in October after they had multiple injuries at the wide receiver position, and despite his stats not being exceptional, he provided good value as a depth option for the squad.

In eight games he had 12 receptions on 28 targets (42.9% catch rate) for 120 yards and a touchdown. He also found some value on special teams, returning seven punts for 90 yards (12.9 yards per return) and three kickoffs for 96 yards (32 yards per return).

He was likely brought back as a return man, as the Saints look to utilize Rashid Shaheed more exclusively on offense and give him a chance to be a playmaker for the wide receiver corps.

Pettis will have a chance with the current state of the group to make a push for offensive snaps in 2025, however, you would have to assume the Saints will look to add to the position via free agency or the 2025 NFL draft.

BREAKING: New Orleans Saints Shocks NFL Community after Making Surprising Decision With Derek Carr

The New Orleans Saints recently made it sound like Derek Carr was going to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2025.

The team hasn’t shied away from that and he will be. Carr signed a four-year, $150 million deal and has two years left on the deal. There’s been a lot of chatter about how the team was going to handle his contract. He had an expected cap hit over $51 million for the 2025 season and the Saints obviously are in a tough spot cap-wise.

New Orleans reportedly is restructuring his deal, which could drop his cap hit down to just over $20 million, but there is no pay cut, according to ESPN’s Katherine Terrell.

“The Saints are restructuring Derek Carr’s contract to open up $30.9 million in 2025 cap space, according to a source on Saturday,” Terrell said. “The Saints plan to convert Carr’s $30 million base salary and $10 million guaranteed roster bonus to a signing bonus, pushing money to future years and lowering his 2025 cap figure to $20.4 million. Carr’s base salary was set to become fully guaranteed Friday.

“Restructuring Carr’s contract ties the quarterback to the Saints for at least the 2025 season and increases Carr’s 2026 cap figure to $69.2 million in the final season of his contract. That means the Saints will likely face questions about his contract again next year.”

The surprising part isn’t the no pay cut. He signed a contract with the Saints and both sides agreed to it. Plus, he made it clear that he didn’t want a pay cut. It’s good to get his cap figure down from $51 million to $20 million, but a $69 million cap hit for next year is astronomical.

Even if he doesn’t play with the Saints next year, there will be a huge dead cap number if his cap hit is that high. All in all, it’s a complicated situation but at least New Orleans knows who its quarterback is going to be in 2025.

Saints to Cut Ties With Projected $30.2 Million Tight End: ‘Take The Chance’

Should the New Orleans Saints move on from one of their reliable stars on offense?

As free agency approaches, some people feel that New Orleans should let 28-year-old tight end Juwan Johnson walk, while others feel that retaining Johnson is a must. Johnson has tallied 146 receptions, 1,622 receiving yards, and 18 receiving touchdowns since being signed by the Saints in 2020, production that would surely be missed were he to join another team.

At the same time, the Saints are dealing with a messy cap situation, and moving on from Johnson could help ease their fiscal woes, a point made by Saints Wire’s Dylan Sanders on Thursday. Sanders acknowledged that Johnson is a good player but wondered whether the Saints can go cheaper at the tight end position in 2025.

“The New Orleans Saints signed Juwan Johnson as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State back in 2020 and began the experiment of turning him into a star tight end,” Sanders wrote.

“Now he is headed towards free agency and the Saints must decide if they want to bring him back.”

“When Johnson is on, he is a receiving threat and fun player to watch. The problem with him has mostly been consistency. He will go a couple of weeks in a row being quiet and then can put together a great showing.”

Sanders then referenced how Spotrac estimates that Johnson will demand a three-year, $30.2 million deal in free agency, a contract that Sanders believes the Saints should avoid paying.

“This projected deal would be a solid value for the player that Johnson is, but that might not be the player that the Saints need at tight end,” Sanders wrote.

“Foster Moreau was able to give them 32 catches for 413 yards and five touchdowns last year and he is making just over $4 million a season.”

“It feels as though Johnson has reached his ceiling in New Orleans and both parties could benefit from going their separate ways. Bringing him back wouldn’t be a terrible move, but they could also take the chance in the draft at finding a cheaper option that could deliver similar production.”

The Saints are certainly eyeing tight ends in the draft, having been linked repeatedly to Penn State stud Tyler Warren at the No. 9 overall pick.

Whether or not New Orleans lands Warren, it might be prudent to move on from Johnson given the franchise’s current cap situation.

The Saints need to be extremely frugal across the board until their cap health markedly improves, and it might take another 12 to 24 months for that to come to fruition.

UNBELIEVABLE: Saints fans in Shock as GM Mickey Loomis Solidify Derek Carr As Starting Quarterback With Contract Conversion up to $40million in Earnings

The New Orleans Saints have made it clear that they want quarterback Derek Carr as their quarterback for the 2025 season. On Saturday, the Saints converted most of Carr’s salary into a signing bonus, setting Carr up to make his full $40 million salary and freeing up cap space for the organization, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported.

The Saints indicated at the NFL combine that they planned to stick with Carr as their quarterback, and now have backed up that decision by converting his contract.

New Orleans could have looked in another direction at quarterback after Carr threw for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while missing seven games during the 2024 season. The Saints brought in a new head coach in Kellen Moore, but plan to keep Carr as quarterback as he enters the third year of the four-year, $150 million deal he signed in March 2023.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, there were other teams with their eye on this situation and could have potentially been interested in Carr if New Orleans didn’t bring him back.

Through two seasons with the Saints, Carr has put up a 14-13 record, including a 9-8 record for the team in 2024.

This move will reportedly save the Saints $30 million in cap space, per Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football Network. This is crucial for a Saints team that has built up the worst cap situation in the NFL, and had about -$44.9 million in cap space before making this move, per Over the Cap. The negative is that this restructure is set to make Carr’s cap hit $69 million in 2026, ESPN’s Katherine Terrell reports, but the Saints can at least ease their cap situation this season and address that hit next year.