NFL REVIEW: NFL Experts and Saint Legends Believe Saints Are Being Held Back By Two of The Worst Contracts In The NFL – “Released Them and Get Better “.

In recent years, the New Orleans Saints’ offseasons have revolved around the salary cap. While most teams spend the offseason making big moves to strengthen their squad, the Saints usually spend it restructuring contracts to go under the wage cap while keeping their core players on the roster. This year has not been any different. Early in the offseason, we saw the normal restructures in New Orleans, and the team is currently dealing with Alvin Kamara’s contract predicament.

Typically, these are issues that elite teams encounter. Having a large number of good players is expensive, therefore teams make the best of their situation. However, the Saints are not an elite team. They have not made the playoffs in three years, ending with average records each time.

Bad contracts are to blame for New Orleans’ cap difficulties and lack of success. David Kenyon made similar point in a recent Bleacher Report article, listing the NFL’s ten worst contracts ahead of the 2024 season. Unfortunately for the Saints, they possessed two top-10 players: Taysom Hill and Derek Carr.

Taysom Hill and Derek Carr’s contracts are among the worst in the league. Hill’s four-year, $40 million contract is ranked sixth on the list. Kenyon maintained that “the idea of Taysom Hill has consistently been more exciting than his actual performance.” Kenyon went on to say that while Hill has helped the Saints in a variety of ways, he does not believe he is worth the price.

Three positions ahead of that, at No. 3, was Derek Carr’s four-year, $150 million contract from the Saints last offseason. Kenyon explained how restructures had increased Carr’s “cap hits to north of $50 and 60 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively.” Furthermore, it was noted that a feasible exit date is not until 2027; moving on from Carr before then would be exceedingly costly for New Orleans.

The only thing that can improve this situation is to win. Everything will be worthwhile if Carr, Hill, and the Saints have a standout season. Until that happens, these transactions will be considered bad contracts.