NFL fans sound off after Saints save $23,000,000 with Derek Carr contract restructure: “Salary cap is fake”

The New Orleans Saints restructured Derek Carr's contract and immediately invited the scrutiny of NFL fans for their salary cap gymnastics. The franchise has become adept at moving money around to ensure they are not violating the salary limit set by the league. It has been a yearly feature for them even when Drew Brees was there and while every team does it, they seem to know the ins and outs of the whole situation better.

Accordingly, fans began voicing their concerns and wondering if having a salary cap number makes any difference or not. Some even called the figure fake. They took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to make their comments. Here is a rundown of some of the comments on the platform.

Derek Carr's contract restructure to save New Orleans Saints $23 million as salary cap rises to $255,4 million

In order to provide much-needed salary cap relief to the New Orleans Saints, Derek Carr consented to modify his deal such that more than $28 million of his planned $30 million salary would be converted to a bonus. Prior to the conversion, it was estimated that the Saints would have over the million adjusted salary ceiling.

The new salary cap was announced as $255.4 million, which was a jump of over more than $30.6 million from last year. As repayments to the clubs and the players from the COVID pandemic hit, coupled with increased media revenue, the ceiling rose to a new high.

But this higher limit was still not enough for the Saints. They were still expected to be $40.1 million over the cap and needed to move money around. That is where they asked their quarterback to help.

Following his release by the Las Vegas Raiders, Derek Carr had inked a four-year, $150 million contract in March 2023. Prior to the official restructure, his projected cap impact for 2024 was $36 million, including a part of his deferred signing bonus. This move now ends up saving New Orleans a projected $23 million.

It is a philosophy that the Saints has consistently followed for some years now. Generally, the teams with the highest salary cap space have are also the worst teams in the league and have the highest draft order. For example, this year the Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Chicago Bears have the most cap space and also hold the first three picks of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Based on that logic, New Orleans should have cap space right in the middle of the pack. Instead, they were the second-worst after the Buffalo Bills prior to this restructure.