On Monday, news broke about Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints closing in on a four year deal. This is a puzzling move, to say the least.
I for one believe this is a terrible fit for both sides, but it appears that the Saints and Carr will be joining forces on a four year deal. After playing nearly a decade as a Raider, Carr was released by the team several weeks ago.
He went on an early free agent tour, meeting with the Saints, Panthers, and Jets. Surely there was another team or two who had interest as well.
To me, the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers were much better fits than the New Orleans Saints.
Derek Carr will take his talents to the NFC and reunite with his first head coach in the NFL in Dennis Allen. He’ll also get to throw the ball to Chris Olave, and also has elite weapon Alvin Kamara in the backfield.
Outside of that, though, there really isn’t much more to say about the Saints. They’re still millions over the cap and will likely have to part ways with more players to get under the cap number and to be able to fit Carr’s four year deal in their books.
For one, I think the Panthers were immediately a better fit because of their coaching staff, headlined by head coach Frank Reich who has had quite the coaching career working with veteran QBs.
They also, to me, have a very underrated roster, a better offensive line, and better talent on defense.
The Jets were probably the best fit of the three, as they were 7-4 at one point in 2022 starting QBs like Zach Wilson and Mike White. The Jets sport one of the top defenses in the NFL and do have some nice skill players on offense.
The next thing I’m watching out for is how much his contract his worth. The contract is expected to come in around $35-$40 million per season.