Derek Carr

Raiders Fallout: Davis, Garoppolo, Brady

The Raiders made headlines early this morning when they fired head coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler. While the midseason shakeup may have come as a surprise to some, it probably didn’t shock many of the team’s veterans.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, owner Mark Davis had meetings with veteran players over the past week to better understand the team’s culture (or lack thereof). Albert Breer of SI.com echoes that report, noting that Davis was well aware of the players’ grievances. Even before the recent meetings, the firing started to feel “inevitable” within the organization, according to Breer. Davis was becoming increasingly “volatile and angry” with the team’s inconsistencies, and that ultimately led to his decision.

McDaniels was also aware of the problems in his locker room. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the coach allowed players to raise their issues during a team meeting last week. Josh Jacobs, Maxx Crosby, and Davante Adams were among the veteran players who spoke up, with the latter also expressing his discontent following Monday’s loss to the Lions.

Breer has more details on what led to the eventual firings. There was a “particularly aggressive” postgame meeting between Davis and his staff after the Raiders beat the Packers in Week 5. Despite the win, the owner caught the attention of many because he was “so angry,” and his “reaction created an uneasy feeling” with coaches and scouts.

More notes out of Las Vegas…

  • The “disconnect” between Davis and McDaniels/Ziegler surrounding the Raiders quarterback situation played a major role in the dismissals, according to Dianna Russini, Vic Tafur, Tashan Reed, and Larry Holder of The Athletic. The decision that played the most significant role in the firings was when veteran Brian Hoyer started over rookie Aidan O’Connell in Week 7. Breer provided more context on that decision, noting that the Raiders believed Hoyer’s veteran game management would be advantageous against the Bears, who were rolling with a rookie of their own. Some coaches believed that O’Connell should get the call, and Hoyer proceeded to throw a pair of interceptions in an eventual loss.
  • According to Tafur, Davis had issues with Ziegler’s handling of the position before this season. The owner wasn’t a proponent of the extension that the GM gave to Derek Carr, and the accompanying no-trade clause meant the organization ultimately let the franchise quarterback walk without receiving any compensation. Ziegler didn’t do himself any favors by handing Jimmy Garoppolo $33MM in guaranteed money. The oft-injured QB later failed his physical and ultimately required surgery, and he’s proceeded to toss nine interceptions in his six games. The GM also might regret his decision to not target a rookie and spend the money elsewhere; per Tafur, the Raiders only liked Bryce Young heading into the draft.
  • Davis will now have a difficult choice to make on Garoppolo, and it goes beyond the decision to start O’Connell in Week 9. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com writes, it makes most sense for the organization to cut the veteran QB as soon as possible. Garoppolo has $11.25MM in injury guarantees that are due in March of 2024. The team could cut him after the Super Bowl and before the guarantee vests, but they’d be risking the QB suffering an injury during an upcoming game or practice.
  • Tom Brady isn’t yet an official part-owner of the Raiders, but the future Hall of Famer will be involved in the HC and GM hiring process, according to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. Of course, Brady has a relationship with both McDaniels and Ziegler, with the trio having won many Super Bowls together during their time in New England.

Saints QB Derek Carr To Start In Week 4

Derek Carr will be back under center for the Saints in the club’s Week 4 contest against the Buccaneers today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com first reported that New Orleans’ QB1 had a good chance to play.

Carr, who signed a four-year, $150MM contract with the Saints in March shortly after his tenure with the Raiders came to an end, had guided his new team to a 2-0 record and a 17-0 lead in its Week 3 tilt with the Packers before sustaining a shoulder injury in the third quarter of that game. After Carr’s departure, backup Jameis Winston completed 10 of 16 passes for 101 yards, but the Saints were unable to add to their point total, and Green Bay rallied for an 18-17 win.

To be clear, New Orleans’ top-10 defense has been the primary catalyst for its 2-0 (and nearly 3-0) start. During his first two-and-a-half games in a Saints uniform, Carr has posted a mediocre 85.2 quarterback rating, completing roughly 65% of his throws for two TDs against two interceptions.

Still, the team will doubtlessly be happy to have its marquee offseason acquisition back in the fold, especially in light of the disappointing loss to the Packers. Carr, who was diagnosed with a sprained AC joint, has taken first-team reps in practice over the past two days and will suit up as long as the coaching staff believes he will be able to protect himself.

Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, who covered the Bucs during Winston’s five-year run with the club, recalled a time when Winston was dealing with an AC joint injury of his own. As Stroud notes, it will be interesting to see whether Carr, in his first game after suffering the injury, turns down open looks because he lacks the arm strength and/or confidence to make the throw.

Luckily for Carr, he will have running back Alvin Kamara back in the fold to handle short tosses out of the backfield and to otherwise take some pressure off of the passing game. Kamara will make his 2023 debut after serving a three-game suspension to start the season.

NFL Injury Updates: Carr, Kupp, Beckham

After taking a big shot to his throwing shoulder in a Week 3 loss to the Packers, Saints quarterback Derek Carr is reportedly unlikely to appear when New Orleans plays host to the Buccaneers this Sunday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston is set to start in his place.

Carr wasn’t necessarily struggling in his debut season playing for any team other than the Raiders, but he wasn’t striving either. After winning the first two games of the season, Carr was only averaging 266.5 passing yards per game with one touchdown and two interceptions. Protection had been a bit of an issue as he had been sacked four times in each of his first two starts with the Saints. This past weekend, that questionable protection led to the shoulder injury that’s expected to hold him out of this week’s game.

Winston will now, once again, take the reins of the Saints’ offense. Over four years with the team, Winston has appeared in 15 games: five coming off the bench and 10 as a starter. In his first season as a full-time starter in New Orleans, Winston started the season 5-2 while throwing 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions before a torn ACL would end his 2021 season early. Last year, Winston started three games despite reports of fractures in his back and went 1-2 with four touchdowns and five interceptions before spending the rest of the season as QB2 behind Andy Dalton.

Winston will get his chance to prove he can still be an effective starter in the NFL this weekend while Carr recovers. According to Nick Underhill of neworleans.football, no consideration has taken place in respect to moving hybrid tight end Taysom Hill to quarterback this week.

Here are some other injury updates from around the league:

  • ESPN’s Sarah Barshop provided an update today on the recovery timeline of Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp. She reported that head coach Sean McVay told the media that it is “the hope” that Kupp will be able to come off of injured reserve as soon as he is eligible to in Week 5. Kupp has missed the first three games of the season due to a hamstring injury and will have to miss this weekend, too, due to his stint on IR. McVay was hesitant to make any promises that might pigeonhole his All-Pro wideout, but the update is surely encouraging news for the Rams’ offense.
  • The injury woes will continue a little longer for Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as ESPN’s Dan Graziano tells us that Beckham is likely to miss “another game or two” with the ankle injury that’s dogged him since the offseason. While Baltimore’s offense will have to do without Beckham, Graziano reports that running back Justice Hill has a chance to return this week from the toe injury that held him out of last week’s loss.

Saints’ Derek Carr Suffers AC Joint Sprain

SEPTEMBER 25: Head coach Dennis Allen confirmed on Monday that Carr is dealing with an AC joint sprain. That means the worst-case scenario is not in play, with Allen acknowledging the team “dodged a bullet” in this instance. Carr is now week-to-week, though Allen declined to immediately rule him out for Week 4. Winston and fourth-round rookie Jake Haener are in place on the Saints’ active roster, but the latter is serving a six-game PED suspension. Any missed time by Carr would thus leave the team shorthanded under center.

SEPTEMBER 24: The Saints saw quarterback Derek Carr exit their Week 3 loss on Sunday, and it may take some time before he next takes the field again. Carr is facing at least a short-term absence due to a shoulder injury, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Carr was slow to get up after taking a sack in the third quarter, and he was taken to the locker room before being ruled out shortly thereafter. The 32-year-old underwent X-rays at a local hospital, but Rapoport notes testing revealed a more serious injury appears to have been avoided. For now, Carr is believed to have suffered an AC joint sprain.

The four-time Pro Bowler was released from hospital in time to fly back home with the team, ESPN’s Katherine Terrell notes. That adds a slight bit of optimism to this situation, with multiple reports confirming Carr’s ailment is not season-ending. Any missed time would nevertheless be a notable blow to a franchise which has had to deal with a slew of availability issues under center in recent years.

New Orleans inked Carr to a four-year, $150MM deal in March not long after his Raiders tenure came to an official end. His addition raised expectations for the Saints’ offense, though his 1:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 80.2 passer rating through two games left plenty to be desired. Carr has a history of playing through pain dating back to his time with the Raiders, so it will be interesting to see how aggressive he is in returning while the team weighs the risk involved given their investment made in him.

With Carr sidelined, Jameis Winston took over at QB to finish the game on Sunday. The former No. 1 pick went 10-for-16 with 101 passing yards, but New Orleans blew a 17-0 lead established with Carr playing to ultimately lose 18-17 to the Packers. Winston took a pay cut to remain with the Saints this offseason despite the Carr addition. After losing his starting gig to an ACL tear in 20121 then being supplanted as QB1 by Andy Dalton last year, Winston could again be positioned to see first-team action moving forward.

The Saints’ next contest is a Monday night game against the Buccaneers, with whom Winston spent his first five seasons. Even if Carr’s injury proves to be a minor one, it seems likely the latter will be forced to miss at least the upcoming Week 4 tilt. New Orleans will, however, receive a boost in the ground game with Alvin Kamara set to return from his three-game suspension to open the campaign. Especially with fellow running back Jamaal Williams on IR, Kamara should see a notable workload right away in his 2023 debut. The Saints’ longer-term offensive outlook could, however, take a hit if Carr is shut down for an extended stretch.

Derek Carr Addresses Raiders Exit, Saints Signing

Released shortly before his contract would provide more than $40MM in additional guarantees, Derek Carr fielded interest from a few teams. This included meetings with the Jets, Panthers and Saints and a visit to New York.

The Jets, however, made no secret of Aaron Rodgers being their top choice. But when they hosted Carr in February, the Jets were not certain Rodgers was interested in playing this season. While Rodgers was moving toward signing off on joining the Jets and delaying retirement, the Saints placed the longtime Raiders starter atop their list. This helped lead to Carr feeling “far more comfortable” in New Orleans. The four-year, $150MM contract added to this comfort level.

It was always ‘us.’ It was always ‘team.’ It was never, ‘You have to do this, or you have to do that,'” Carr said (via ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell) of the Saints’ pitch. “It was like, the whole team mindset, top to bottom, ‘We’re all in this together. One fails, we all fail.’ A lot of people say that, but [don’t] really mean that.”

When the Raiders released Carr before the Feb. 15 date in which $40.4MM would have become guaranteed, the 10th-year veteran described it as “a relief,” via Terrell. Josh McDaniels called Carr to inform him of the decision, one that had become essentially a lock after Carr wielded his no-trade clause to steer himself to free agency.

The Saints were the only team to host Carr on a visit while he was still a Raider and the only team to agree to trade parameters with the AFC West club, but the longest-tenured QB1 in Raiders history fared better on the open market, receiving $60MM guaranteed at signing — with another $10MM becoming locked in by March 2024 — from the Saints. The $60MM number nearly topped Jimmy Garoppolo and Geno Smith‘s guarantee-at-signing figures put together and approached the amount the Giants guaranteed Daniel Jones ($82MM).

Trade rumors followed Carr dating back to the Raiders’ Oakland days. Although Carr finished third in the 2016 MVP voting, he struggled over the next two years as the Raiders stripped away some weaponry. The Jon Gruden offseasons brought trade buzz and rumblings about the team taking a quarterback. The Raiders did pursue Tom Brady in 2020, but Gruden backed off, leading to a memorable Brady retort years later. Aaron Rodgers was then believed to have included the Raiders on his destination list in 2021, but the Broncos led the way on the trade-rumor front for the then-disgruntled Packers QB.

Carr, however, remained the Silver and Black’s starter through McDaniels’ first season. Though, the three-year, $121.5MM deal included the aforementioned escape hatch that allowed the Raiders to bail if the McDaniels-Carr fit proved poor.

There were many offseasons where I’d have a great year, and they were like ‘Alright, who are we going to draft?‘” Carr said. “‘Who are we going to draft? What are you talking about?’ … It’s driving me nuts. Like, ‘Are you kidding me? Are you watching the same film I’m watching?’ As a competitor, some of that stuff was annoying, and when those questions wouldn’t get answered … it’s just like, as a competitor, I’m going to keep proving myself.”

To be fair, Carr has never been viewed as a top-flight quarterback. But other teams considered him a clear upgrade, leading to some of the past trade rumors. While Carr famously said he would rather retire than play elsewhere, the Raiders’ decision to bench him for Jarrett Stidham in Week 17 changed his mind. Michael Thomas, who was not certain to be back with the Saints this year, also made an aggressive sales pitch for Carr, per Terrell. Shortly after the Saints signed Carr, they kept the injury-prone wide receiver in the fold. Thomas caught five passes for 61 yards in the Saints’ Week 1 win over the Titans.

The Saints have not drafted a first-round quarterback since taking Archie Manning second overall in 1971. The team has since depended on free agency (from Bobby Hebert to Jim Everett to Drew Brees and now to Carr) — and trades (Aaron Brooks, 2000) to staff the position. With Carr tied to New Orleans through at least 2024, with the team having a 2025 escape route involving modest dead money, that streak will likely continue for at least a bit longer.

Derek Carr Discusses Raiders Departure

Derek Carr isn’t happy with how his Raiders tenure came to an end. With questions surrounding his future in Las Vegas, Carr was benched for the Raiders’ final two games of the 2022 season. That decision truly marked the end of Carr’s nine-year stint with the organization, and the quarterback was ultimately cut in February.

The veteran has since caught on with the Saints, and he told Anthony Galaviz of the Fresno Bee that his experience at the end of the 2022 campaign is motivating him heading into 2023.

“I was, for lack of a better term, I was very upset; I was mad,” he said. “You spend nine years in a place, you have all the records and you can play at a high level and for something to get in the way, whether it was whatever reason, money related or whatever, injury related, I would have said I don’t even want the money, just to play two more times in front of our fans. I didn’t get that opportunity. So it definitely lit a fire inside me to keep going.”

The Raiders gave Carr a long leash after selecting him in the second round of the 2014 draft. The Raiders would only have a winning record in two of the next nine years, including a 2016 campaign where Carr went 12-3 as a starter but was sidelined for the team’s eventual playoff loss. When all was said and done, Carr only got into a single playoff game during his tenure with the Raiders, and he started 142 of the team’s 146 regular season games.

Over the quarterback’s nine-year tenure with the team, the Raiders went through six head coaches (including two interim HCs). Without any postseason success, Carr understood that he’d eventually be on the hot seat

“If you win more games and you keep being productive, you stay there forever,” Carr said. “But we didn’t win enough games and that’s the kind of stuff that happens with all the turnover of coaches; with all the different things. Eventually, the last guy in the room is usually going to be out at some point. And that’s really what happened.

“I’ve survived about 20 coaches and that’s how it goes and it is what it is.”

The Saints have been seeking some stability at the quarterback position since Drew Brees retired following the 2020 season. Neither Jameis Winston nor Andy Dalton did enough in 2022 to dissuade the front office from pursuing an upgrade, and Carr is optimistic that he can help the Saints compete for a playoff spot in 2023.

“There’s a lot of work and we have a tough division that we are going to have to compete against and we’re excited about the challenge,” he said.

Packers Sought Russell Wilson-Type Haul For Aaron Rodgers; Jets Debated Stronger Derek Carr Push

Aaron Rodgers has begun attending Jets offseason workouts, but it took an extensive process for the Packers to move him off their roster. The teams had different goals when they begun negotiations.

The Packers initially sought a trade package comparable to the haul the Seahawks received for Russell Wilson or the Lions picked up for Matthew Stafford, Brian Costello of the New York Post reports. But with Rodgers moving out of the picture in Green Bay, the Jets were never expected to pay what it would have likely cost the Broncos (or another suitor) to pry Rodgers from the Packers in 2021 or ’22. Still, the lag time between the first Rodgers-related discussion between Packers GM Brian Gutekunst and Jets counterpart Joe Douglas — in January, when the latter represented the only interested party among those Gutekunst contacted — led to some uncertainty.

Just before Derek Carr committed to the Saints, Jets brass debated if they should make a stronger push for the longtime Raiders quarterback, Costello adds. The Jets hosted Carr in February and met with him again at the Combine. Though, Gang Green viewed the 10th-year veteran as its Rodgers backup plan throughout the process. With the Jets not knowing until March 12 Rodgers was even planning to play in 2023, they saw their top backup plan vanish when Carr signed with the Saints on March 6.

Shortly after the Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett as OC — a move widely rumored to be a Rodgers-related decision — Robert Saleh instructed his staff to study Jimmy Garoppolo and Ryan Tannehill, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes. The former 49ers starter surfaced as a Jets option, while the longtime Titans first-stringer has been involved in trade rumors this year. But the Jets waited out Rodgers and received confirmation, via the four-time MVP’s agent contacting Douglas, his client was onboard with the Jets.

The Packers could have obtained more in a trade for Rodgers had they unloaded him in 2021 or ’22, but Jordan Love had not progressed to the point the team was ready to roll with the former No. 26 overall pick. Gutekunst sought to tell Rodgers the Packers planned to field a younger roster this season and make moves to help their salary cap, per Breer, with this meaning Rodgers favorites Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis would not be back. (Cobb is now a Jet, with Lewis potentially on the team’s radar.) Of course, Gutekunst and Rodgers never got around to a meeting regarding his future. The parties had multiple January meetings in California scheduled, Breer adds; neither came to fruition. Gutekunst dealt with Rodgers’ agent during the trade talks.

As for the trade price, one of the Jets’ counterproposals — during the sides’ off-and-on talks — involved a 2025 Packers second-round pick coming back in the event Rodgers did not return in 2024. The March Rodgers-Jets summit did not involve discussion about how much longer Rodgers would play, though that later became an understandable component of the Jets’ trade push. Instead of the Jets receiving a 2025 second from the Packers — in the event Rodgers retires after this season — the teams agreed on the deal that included the 2024 first-rounder being a conditional pick and not a locked-in 1, Breer adds. That said, Rodgers has only failed to play 65% of his team’s offensive snaps twice in his 15-year starter run. It represents a fairly safe bet the Jets will send the Packers their 2024 first-rounder in this swap.

Rather than the 65% figure, the Jets wanted to tie the 2024 draft choice to team placement, per Breer. But the Packers did this in the Brett Favre trade 15 years ago; the Green Bay icon’s biceps injury ended up leading the Jets out of the playoff race and reducing the Pack’s compensation to a 2009 third-rounder. With Packers president Mark Murphy involved in both negotiations, the Packers did not relent on a refusal to tie the pick to the Jets’ 2023 record.

Douglas was a bit leery about a potential post-draft suitor emerging as an alternative for Rodgers, Breer adds. The Jets had lost Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in a two-team race last year. The All-Pro wideout was nearly a Jet, but when the Dolphins entered the fray, Miami became Hill’s preferred destination. This helped provide the impetus for the Jets to complete the deal by the draft, even as no other teams were closely connected to Rodgers this offseason.

The 2023 pick-swap component also did not enter the negotiations until late. That turned out to matter, with many believing the Jets were prepared to draft tackle Broderick Jones in Round 1. The Steelers moved up three spots, from No. 17 to No. 14, to prevent that from happening. New York selected edge rusher Will McDonald with its Green Bay-obtained No. 15 pick. The Packers chose Iowa pass rusher Lukas Van Ness at 13.

Latest On Derek Carr’s Free Agency Choice

As the Jets give Aaron Rodgers their best sales pitch, four quarterbacks came off the market in a 30-hour span. Although Lamar Jackson, Daniel Jones and Geno Smith were never serious candidates to hit free agency, the Saints signing Derek Carr took away the Jets’ Rodgers backup plan.

The Saints, however, were the first team to meet with Carr, hosting him on a visit before the Raiders released him. Carr ended up feeling “far more comfortable” with the Saints compared to the Jets, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes.

The NFC South offers a better path to a division title — something Carr did not accomplish with the Raiders, as Peyton Manning– and Patrick Mahomes-led teams stood in his way — compared to the AFC East, as the rest of the division is still navigating quarterback uncertainty. The Saints were also not waiting on Rodgers, with the Jets having communicated to Carr he was their second choice. As Rodgers continues to take his time, the Saints landed their top target. New Orleans’ media market is also a bit less frenzied compared to the Big Apple, an aspect that may or may not have influenced Carr’s comfort level.

Carr signed a four-year, $150MM deal to join a less menacing conference, in terms of QB talent, and his fourth NFL contract provides more long-term security compared to his 2022 Raiders re-up. Carr is locked in through 2024, with his signing bonus and 2023 and ’24 salaries being guaranteed at signing. Carr will see $10MM of his 2025 salary shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee in March 2024, Florio adds. All of Carr’s $40MM in 2025 — a roster bonus and $30MM base salary — is guaranteed for injury at signing.

This looks more like a two-year contract with a third-year option, with Carr effectively certain not to be attached to the deal by 2026. That year includes a $50MM nonguaranteed base salary, Florio adds. Year 4, however, drove the reported AAV up to $37.5MM per year. Carr was connected to wanting a deal north of $35MM on average. The 10th-year veteran landed it, and if his second act in the NFC goes well, this might not be the only Saints pact the former Raider signs.

Carr, 31, was interested in the Jets, and the sides met twice — in New York and in Indianapolis — but their timelines did not match up. Some among the Jets viewed Jimmy Garoppolo as a legitimate option before the front office locked onto Carr. If this Rodgers meeting does not produce alignment, louder Garoppolo noise figures to come out of New York soon. The Jets must wait until March 13 to speak with Garoppolo, however, as he is set to be an unrestricted free agent.

Saints Sign Derek Carr

12:25pm: Details are in on the Carr deal, per Rapoport (Twitter link). The contract is worth $150MM over four years, good for an average annual value of $37.5MM; that figure ranks ninth in the league amongst QBs. In addition, the Saints are giving Carr $100MM in total guarantees, including $60MM guaranteed at signing (which rank 10th and 11th in the NFL at the position, respectively, and outweigh the $40MM the Raiders would have owed him had they not released him when they did). $10MM due in year three of the pact vests after one season, meaning the contract essentially contains $70MM fully guaranteed. Garafolo tweets that a no-trade clause is in place as well.

Rapoport adds that Carr agreed to structure the deal in a way which helps their tight cap situation, meaning the first year likely carries a low cap hit. Even if that’s the case, Winston is all-but assured to find himself playing elsewhere in 2023 as New Orleans looks for less expensive options behind Carr.

9:19am: After plenty of speculation, the first quarterback domino is set to fall in 2023. Derek Carr is signing with the Saints, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). His colleague Ian Rapoport tweets that the deal is four years in length. The Saints have since announced that the contract is officially in place.

Carr’s tenure with the Raiders all-but officially came to an end late in the 2022 season when he was benched. He spent the final two weeks of the campaign away from the team, leading to questions of where he would land next and how Vegas would proceed under center. A trade was a possibility at one point, with the Saints being the only team which worked out compensation with the Raiders on a potential deal. However, the 31-year-old forced Vegas to release him and give himself the chance to test the open market.

That made Carr the top quarterback known to be available prior to the start of free agency. He had a visit with the Jets which resulted in mutual interest existing between the two sides. New York has been very public about their intentions of adding a veteran passer to give the team stability at the position, though they have routinely been linked to a potential Aaron Rodgers trade.

Carr met with not only the Saints and Jets, but also the Panthers during the Combine, a sign that New Orleans could be facing competition from their division rival. Carolina was thought to be weary of Carr’s $35MM-per-year asking price, however, leading to the expectation that they will use the draft to find their next long-term QB. This news points the Panthers further in that direction.

It came out last week that the Saints were prepared to sign Carr after the outcome of their sit-downs with him. That suggested they were in the lead to land the four-time Pro Bowler, although an update from yesterday seemed to keep the Jets firmly in the running. In any case, it comes as little surprise that Carr has made his decision before the start of the new league year, when other veterans (including Jimmy Garoppolo) will become eligible to sign with teams.

The Saints made a strong push for Deshaun Watson last offseason, in spite of an unenviable cap situation. That led them to turn back to Jameis Winston as their Week 1 starter, though the addition of backup Andy Dalton led to the expectation that a swap in the pecking order could be coming. That was indeed what happened relatively early in the season, though Dalton’s performances led to increased calls for Winston to be re-installed as the No. 1.

Overall, neither passer did enough in 2022 to dissuade New Orleans from making a splash at the position. Dalton is a pending free agent, while Winston has one year remaining on his current contract. Releasing the latter as a post-June 1 cut would yield $12.8MM in cap savings, though the Saints still have plenty of need for additional funds in the immediate future. The team has made multiple moves recently with respect to restructures, as they looked to carve out not only the needed space to achieve cap compliance, but also the ability to afford Carr. Now, they have done enough to land what they hope will be an upgrade at the position for the foreseeable future.

Attention will now increasingly turn to the Jets’ pursuit of Rodgers, who has at all times been their top preference. With Carr no longer available as a backup plan, New York could face increased urgency to trade for the four-time MVP, whose playing future remains very much in the air. Meanwhile, veterans Carson Wentz and Marcus Mariota are now the top passers available at the moment, after they were unsurprisingly released last week. With Carr off the board, the 2023 QB landscape has started to take shape.

Latest On Derek Carr

MARCH 5, 6:05PM: Fowler continued with the updates today, tweeting that, while New Orleans and Carolina remain in the conversation for Carr, the former Raiders quarterback “has a slight lean toward the Jets.” It’s unclear what New York’s main priority is, as they’ve been heavily connected to Rodgers, but Fowler reports that they’ve “made an impression” on Carr.

MARCH 5, 3:36PM: While New Orleans remains one of the top teams to watch on the Carr front, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that “at least” two others have inquired about the four-time Pro Bowler. The Jets and Panthers are in a different situation than the Saints, of course, but that trio could see increased competition in the coming days if more teams join the fray.

MARCH 4: Plenty of attention around the NFL is currently being paid to the 2023 class of quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. The top veteran passer currently on the market is certainly the subject of significant speculation and reporting as well, though.

Derek Carr has been connected to a number of teams since he was released by the Raiders. Those include the Jets, who view him as their backup plan to Aaron Rodgers, and the Saints, who are reportedly prepared to work out a deal with Carr at any time now. The Panthers could also be in the market for a veteran signal-caller, though they are positioned to be contenders for one of the top rookie QBs this year as well.

Carolina met Carr in person earlier this week at the combine. That signaled their interest in at least doing their due diligence at the position, though it also came not long after the team was reported to be unwilling to meet the $35MM-per-year contract the 31-year-old is said to be seeking. That did not represent the only contact between the Panthers and Carr.

The two parties spoke over the phone before the combine and will do so again this Monday, as detailed by ESPN’s David Newton. When speaking on the subject of a possible Carr deal, head coach Frank Reich indicated that he would view the four-time Pro Bowler has a long-term investment despite his age (especially compared to the possibility of drafting a signal-caller in the first round of April’s draft). The latter approach is nevertheless believed to be the Panthers’ preference, reports Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network (video link).

That could point Carr towards the Saints as his free agent process continues to take shape. On that point. Luke Johnson of the New Orleans Advocate tweets that Carr could sign with his new team before free agency begins, perhaps as early as this coming week. That sentiment is shared by Wolfe’s colleague Ian Rapoport (video link).

The Saints have plenty of work still to do in terms of becoming cap compliant, let alone carving out enough space to afford Carr on a market-value deal. Like the Panthers, however, they are in need of at least an intermediate-term upgrade under center, so their interest is unlikely to wane in the coming days. That timeline could see a final decision made on Carr’s part, which would represent the first major development in the 2023 quarterback market.