Saints Have Significant Question To Answer Now

New Orleans is in an unfortunate place

Jan 7, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the New Orleans Saints helmet during warmups against the Atlanta Falcons at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints clearly are in an odd spot right now.

Let's jump right to it: will Derek Carr ever take another snap as a member of the franchise? After the team opted to keep him this offseason and pay him a ton of money, it seemed like he was guaranteed to at least start the 2025 season. Things have obviously changed, though.

Now, this very much is a question and the team is going to have to answer it at some point. It was reported last week that Carr is dealing with a shoulder issue and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport shared that there's a chance he doesn't play football at all in 2025.

If he misses the 2025 season entirely, it seems like a pretty big guarantee that he will never play another snap for the Saints. His cap hit is currently scheduled to balloon up to over $69 million in 2026 and there's no chance the Saints would keep that contract on the books.

There's been a lot of chatter about him over the last few days thanks in large part to the fact that there are a lot of questions about the injury itself. The Athletic's Dianna Russini talked about the drama and mentioned that it could be a sign of "trade bait."

If the Saints were to trade Carr now, it would be nice because they would hypothetically get something in return for a guy who may not play another snap for the franchise. They've also paid him a massive chunk already, though.

This is a tough situation. Unfortunately, it seems like his four-year, $150 million deal was a mistake.

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