After an unexpected NFL world tour, New Orleans has signed Derek Carr to a $150 million, 4-year contract
NEW ORLEANS, La.– After visiting multiple teams and a rumor maelstrom, Derek Carr has finally found his new home with the New Orleans Saints. This comes after Carr’s prolific career with the Raiders, which in actuality has been tumultuous to say the least.
Carr was benched late in the year and was placed behind backup Jarrett Stidham for two games while the Las Vegas Raiders looked for options to get rid of him. After exhausting all available outlets, the team released him due to a strict trade discretion clause in Carr’s contract.
After being set free, Car met with multiple teams; the New York Jets (who reportedly told him “he’d be a Hall-of-Famer”), the Carolina Panthers, and the New Orleans Saints. When the news broke of Carr’s release, the NFL world stood in awe as one of the better quarterback targets for years now had just became available.
New Orleans signed him to a 4-year, $150 million contract with $70 million guaranteed. It’s reported that $60 million of that is due at signing along with another $10 million available in year 3 if the club decides to keep him on that long.
Carr threw for 3,522 yards in 2022, his lowest since 2017. The 31-year old has been in the league since 2014, spent all with the Raiders in Oakland and Las Vegas. A Fresno State alum, the signing comes just a year after Las Vegas decided to give Carr a serious option at receiver with a blockbuster trade for Davante Adams. Even still, the Raiders failed to produce anything of substance with it, going 6-11 and finishing second to last in the AFC West. Carr had several options at receiver and at running back– including the aforementioned Adams, tight end Darren Waller, WR Hunter Renfrow, and running back Josh Jacobs. A stacked offense which seemed disparate at times.
Carr will now meet back up in a classic free agency reunion with head coach Dennis Allen, whom Carr spent his first few games in the league with. The Raiders fired Allen 4 games into the 2014 season, leading to the commonality of outcasts between the two.
In a statement, Dennis Allen said, “I had the opportunity to work with Derek at the start of his professional football career. In addition to his talent, I admired his approach to the game, work ethic and commitment to get better every day in what were the formative stages of his career. From afar and when we played him as an opponent, I saw Derek’s development into one of the most productive quarterbacks in the National Football League. Derek is an outstanding addition to the New Orleans Saints and I can’t wait to get working with him and the rest of our team this offseason.”
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Allen is also eager to pair Carr up with first-round draft pick Chris Olave, whom the Saints acquired from Ohio State in the 2022 NFL Draft. Olave posted over 1,000 yards his freshman season in the league and will now look to put up even better numbers with Carr at the helm.
The seemingly cut and dry move from Las Vegas to the Big Apple for Carr is now gone. The Jets have been left out in the rain and will now look for another option at quarterback. The Panthers might be even more rife with jealousy, as the QB they were vying for goes to a deep division rival.
In nine seasons in the black and silver, Carr threw for 35,222 yards with 217 touchdowns and 99 interceptions. His 91.8 passer rating has been decent, but not enough to get the Raiders past a seemingly massive playoff hump. He has failed to make it past the Divisional round in the postseason, which didn’t bode well with the Black Hole, leading to his departure from Sin City.
