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Credit where it's due: Derek Carr is a hustler. And he tried to hustle the New Orleans Saints out of even more money earlier this year, according to a report from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. Carr's rocky-at-best relationship with the Saints has been the worst-kept secret in the NFL this offseason. The Saints can't say whether or not he'll even be able to play this year due to the possibility of surgery on his throwing shoulder, and there's a real chance Carr has already thrown his last football in New Orleans.
Breer recapped Carr's tumultuous spring with a surprising lede: "To review, there was a point in the offseason when Derek Carr wanted a raise, then a trade, and then the Saints unilaterally converted the great majority of his 2025 money from base salary to a signing bonus, which essentially locked him in with the team for the year. After that, news of the potential shoulder surgery—stemming from a ’23 injury—surfaced, and a lot of questions have followed (older quarterbacks generally have a lot of wear and tear on the throwing shoulder, and could use surgery)."
That's new. Carr wanting a raise early in the year isn't too surprising. Back in January, he rebuffed a question about maybe taking a pay cut by pointing to his tape as proof of his value to the team; he was clearly very proud of his 2,145 passing yards and 15 touchdowns thrown across 10 games. Having entered a year with an exit ramp out of his Saints contract, he may have viewed this as an opportunity to part ways with a rebuilding team and test the market, where he could take advantage of still-surging quarterback contracts like Geno Smith and Sam Darnold did in deals with their new teams.
Now the Saints are looking for his replacement, and Carr might sit out the entire season recovering from surgery. The Saints have already guaranteed him $40 million with that restructure he didn't want, so maybe he can look at it as having gotten his raise after all.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Report: Derek Carr started the Saints offseason by asking for a raise
Continue reading...
Breer recapped Carr's tumultuous spring with a surprising lede: "To review, there was a point in the offseason when Derek Carr wanted a raise, then a trade, and then the Saints unilaterally converted the great majority of his 2025 money from base salary to a signing bonus, which essentially locked him in with the team for the year. After that, news of the potential shoulder surgery—stemming from a ’23 injury—surfaced, and a lot of questions have followed (older quarterbacks generally have a lot of wear and tear on the throwing shoulder, and could use surgery)."
That's new. Carr wanting a raise early in the year isn't too surprising. Back in January, he rebuffed a question about maybe taking a pay cut by pointing to his tape as proof of his value to the team; he was clearly very proud of his 2,145 passing yards and 15 touchdowns thrown across 10 games. Having entered a year with an exit ramp out of his Saints contract, he may have viewed this as an opportunity to part ways with a rebuilding team and test the market, where he could take advantage of still-surging quarterback contracts like Geno Smith and Sam Darnold did in deals with their new teams.
Now the Saints are looking for his replacement, and Carr might sit out the entire season recovering from surgery. The Saints have already guaranteed him $40 million with that restructure he didn't want, so maybe he can look at it as having gotten his raise after all.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Report: Derek Carr started the Saints offseason by asking for a raise
Continue reading...
