Saints to meet with Raiders QB Derek Carr
New Orleans has been looking into Carr for a while now, and Rapoport adds Carr is doing his due diligence on the NFC South team.
The Saints do not have any question marks when it comes to their offensive staff, with the team retaining offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael for a 14th season.
After Sean Payton’s 2022 exit, Carmichael stepped back into the play-calling seat — one he occupied during Payton’s 2012 Bountygate ban.
A trade would require the Saints to pick up the $40.4M guarantee due Feb. 15. While Mickey Loomis has earned justified praise for his cap navigation, this would be a new challenge for the veteran GM.
The Saints, per usual, rank at the bottom of the league for cap space; they are more than $60M over the $224.8M salary ceiling. Loomis’ abilities here should not be doubted, but Carr’s AAV will be far north of Drew Brees‘ run of deals. The sides can certainly renegotiate, however.
This meeting will bring a reunion as well. Dennis Allen resided as the Raiders’ HC when the team drafted Carr in the 2014 second round. That partnership did not last long, as the Raiders fired Allen early in his second season. But the Raiders rolled with their rookie quarterback to start that season.
This familiarity could appeal to Carr, though he also could nix any trade and take his chances in an early free agency run. Should the Raiders release Carr before the guarantee vests, he would be free to sign at any point as a street free agent. Unrestricted free agents cannot agree to terms with teams until the legal tampering period begins March 13.
Allen and then-GM Reggie McKenzie gave the Raiders the longest-tenured QB1 in franchise history; Carr has missed just four career starts (counting a 2016 wild-card game) due to injury.
But the Silver and Black’s new regime signaled a change was coming when it benched Carr ahead of Week 17. Carr left the Raiders at that point.
Increased buzz about a Saints-Carr union emerged at the Senior Bowl last week. That came after a report indicated the Saints were one of the teams doing homework on Carr.
The Commanders and Jets were among that contingent, too, and any team that pursues Carr must also consider this early strike will effectively prevent a pursuit of Jimmy Garoppolo or Aaron Rodgers.
If Rodgers is traded, it will almost definitely be to an AFC destination. That opens a Carr-to-NFC door now, and the Saints make sense as a suitor. They have not found a steady option at quarterback since Brees’ 2021 retirement.
The Saints re-signed Jameis Winston last year, giving their initial Brees successor a two-year, $28M deal. But the team quickly decided to go with Andy Dalton, not giving Winston his job back after he returned from injury.
Dalton started New Orleans’ final 14 games and did rank ninth in passer rating. The longtime Cincinnati starter ranked 21st in QBR, however. The Saints signed Dalton to a one-year, $3.5M deal in 2022.
Should the team be interested in bringing him back to compete for the starting job, a raise would be in order. At 35, Dalton is more than three years older than Carr, who turns 32 in March.
Last week, Carr confirmed reports the Raiders were not allowing him to speak with teams regarding a trade. But a subsequent report clarified the Raiders would allow Carr and his agent to talk with teams — but only suitors who had met the Raiders’ asking price.
The Saints being granted permission to speak with Carr points to the parameters of a trade being worked out, but The Athletic’s Tashan Reed tweets that is not yet the case. That would mean the Raiders have bent a little here.
Even if that is the case, Carr still holds the keys here. A major QB domino could hinge on Wednesday’s meeting, with the former Pro Bowl passer also less than eight days from free agency.
