Are Saints trading Derek Carr? Exploring New Orleans QB's remaining contract amid trade rumors

Kellen Moore was formally presented as the New Orleans Saints' new head coach on Thursday. In response to a question about whether Derek Carr will be the starting quarterback for New Orleans in the future, the former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator chose to commend the quarterback rather than give a direct answer.

"He (Carr) is a tremendous quarterback in this league," Moore said. "In this league, he is a starter. In this league, he is a top player. I can't wait to work with him and go through this process.”

It is quite understandable that New Orleans will have to make a difficult choice about their quarterback this offseason. Carr is currently the Saints’ best quarterback option, but since they have the lowest cap space in the NFL at $54 million over the cap, cutting him would result in significant cost savings.

With two years remaining on his contract, Carr will be subject to salary cap hits of more than $51 million in 2025 and $61 million in 2026.

The 33-year-old had just 10 appearances for the Saints in 2024 due to injuries, completing over 67% of his attempts for 2,145 yards, 15 Touchdowns and five interceptions.

Carr, who had a nine-year stint with the Las Vegas Raiders to start his career, is getting ready to enter his third season as the quarterback for New Orleans.

Derek Carr expected to draw interest from multiple teams if he's cut

The Saints will have plenty of options to get rid of veteran quarterback Derek Carr if Kellen Moore decides not to keep him in New Orleans in 2025 or if the team's executives make that decision for him. In that scenario, several NFL teams might be open to acquiring Carr through a trade.

Carr can still lead a solid group to the postseason at the age of 33, but he can't carry an inadequate team to the postseason by himself if his roster isn't nearly packed, as many of his Raiders sides weren't when he was there.

The Raiders, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers are among the teams who may be interested in acquiring Carr by trade before the 2025 season.