The New Orleans Saints have made it clear that they want quarterback Derek Carr as their quarterback for the 2025 season. On Saturday, the Saints converted most of Carr's salary into a signing bonus, setting Carr up to make his full $40 million salary and freeing up cap space for the organization, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported.

The Saints indicated at the NFL combine that they planned to stick with Carr as their quarterback, and now have backed up that decision by converting his contract.

New Orleans could have looked in another direction at quarterback after Carr threw for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while missing seven games during the 2024 season. The Saints brought in a new head coach in Kellen Moore, but plan to keep Carr as quarterback as he enters the third year of the four-year, $150 million deal he signed in March 2023. According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, there were other teams with their eye on this situation and could have potentially been interested in Carr if New Orleans didn't bring him back.

Through two seasons with the Saints, Carr has put up a 14-13 record, including a 9-8 record for the team in 2024.

This move will reportedly save the Saints $30 million in cap space, per Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football Network. This is crucial for a Saints team that has built up the worst cap situation in the NFL, and had about -$44.9 million in cap space before making this move, per Over the Cap. The negative is that this restructure is set to make Carr's cap hit $69 million in 2026, ESPN's Katherine Terrell reports, but the Saints can at least ease their cap situation this season and address that hit next year.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Saints Solidify Derek Carr As Starting Quarterback With Contract Conversion.