The first quarterback domino of the offseason fell, as the New Orleans Saints agreed to terms on a contract with free-agent QB Derek Carr on Monday. The two sides agreed to a four-year deal worth $150 million with $100 million in total guarantees, according to NFL Network insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
Carr structured his contract to accommodate New Orleans’ cap issues, as he will receive $70 million fully guaranteed — $60 million at signing and another $10 million in Year 3 vesting after Year 1. Both Rapoport and Nick Underhill of NewOrleansFootball.com reported that the cap figure for Carr will be low in 2023, as the Saints are going for it in 2023, especially when considering how wide open the NFC South currently is.
According to Garafolo, Carr received a no-trade clause from the Saints as a part of his new contract. This is the same stipulation the four-time Pro Bowler had with the Raiders, which allowed him to control his future and his free-agent process.
The NFL world reacted as news of Carr’s massive contract had Twitter buzzing. It also left many asking what Lamar Jackson and Daniel Jones will receive on the open market if Carr received an annual average of $37.5 million per year.
Michael Thomas is happy with the move #Saints pic.twitter.com/zhRaP58dy9
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) March 6, 2023
Derek Carr's 4 year, $150M QB contract rankings:
AAV: $37.5M (9th)
Total GTD: $100M (10th)
GTD at Sign: $60M (11th)Our calculated value for Carr came in at $37.7M per year.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 6, 2023
Big money. Much bigger than the rumors we were hearing last week in Indianapolis. The #Saints stepped up to land Derek Carr. https://t.co/E6EDdNWSmW
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 6, 2023
Lamar Jackson seeing that Derek Carr contract pic.twitter.com/hCNnaUV4ZV
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) March 6, 2023
If Derek Carr got $100 mil guaranteed, Lamar, Herbert and Burrow might make enough money to feed an entire country
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) March 6, 2023
So, $37.5 million per year. Not bad. Reasonably priced.
Derek Carr — $37.5 million
Kirk Cousins — $35 million
Jared Goff — $33.5 million
Ryan Tannehill — $29.5 million https://t.co/KSVHcUhLWg— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) March 6, 2023
Derek Carr deal is basically a backloaded 2-year deal with $70M guaranteed, with team options in year three and year four. On par with Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, and Ryan Tannehill. https://t.co/Aq1GN6hrWD
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) March 6, 2023
Haven't even checked to see if this is still true but my understanding of the Saints is that they're always somehow a) mediocre, b) competitive, and c) a billion dollars over the cap in a way that nobody can understand and they never get punished for. So Derek Carr makes sense
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) March 6, 2023
So, you’ve got Daniel Jones reportedly asking for 40M/year. And you’ve got Derek Carr signing for 37.5M/year.
Geno’s contract situation is unique and not necessarily direct comps to Derek and Daniel, but he was better than both last year. QB competence ain’t cheap… https://t.co/HKuPYIj9L6
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) March 6, 2023
Source confirms that this is the range of Derek Carr’s deal with Saints (which would average $37.5M per year). But the value might not be that high in Year 1 as both Saints and Carr want to build a win-now roster.
Could be higher values or incentives for future years included. https://t.co/4hF7EbcvuG
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) March 6, 2023
[Ian Rapoport on Twitter, Mike Garafolo on Twitter, Nick Underhill on Twitter]
