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Sorry New Orleans Saints fans, but starting quarterback Derek Carr isn’t about to make any concessions when it comes to helping the team improve. Carr is just 14-13 as a starting since signing a four-year, $150 million contract with the Saints prior to the 2023 season. New Orleans is just 14-20 in that span and it appears that the team is headed in the wrong direction.
But that’s their problem, not Carr’s, as far as the 33-year-old four-time Pro Bowler is concerned. Carr was asked about the possibility of taking a pay cut on Monday and he quickly shot the idea down.
“I wouldn’t take a pay cut,” Carr told ESPN. “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that. Especially with what I put on tape. Would I restructure? Absolutely. I’ll always help the team that way. But there’s some things that you put out there that you earned. Even in some cases it could be even worse, but I felt confident when I signed it that this would give the team the best flexibility at the time.
“But there’s always a kind of respect as a quarterback you’re like, well still we’re in that respectful lane. ‘We’re good. Build the team.’ But yeah, I wouldn’t take anything less to do this. It’s hard enough putting our bodies through it. And you’re trying to get everything you can for your family for it.”
Carr threw for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his first season in New Orleans. He was on a similar pace in 2024 before suffering two fractures in his throwing hand. New Orleans went 0-7 in the game that he did not play, with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener splitting snaps at quarterback.
“I got to take care of myself and then the rest after that is really out of my hands,” Carr said of the team’s future. “… The hard part is we had to deal with some stuff that we didn’t get to see that full picture all the time. So we’ll see.”
He’s not wrong. But New Orleans fans probably won’t be happy to hear him say it, and I can’t say I blame them.