Derek Carr is a Saint! Outgoing Raiders QB picks New Orleans over New York as he agrees four-year ‘$150m’ deal, leaving Jets fans hoping to get Aaron Rodgers in a trade with the Green Bay Packers
The New Orleans Saints have agreed a four-year deal to acquire outgoing Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr’s future with the team that drafted him in 2014 was effectively over before last season even ended. The four-time Pro Bowl selection was benched in late December. The Raiders were 6-11, missing the playoffs one year after finishing 10-7 and reaching the Wildcard round.
Details of the contract remain unclear, but the four-year contract is worth $150million, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport. The agreement also includes $100m in guarantees, according to Rapoport.
The move represents the first domino to fall in the NFL’s off-season quarterback market.
Now, quarterback-hungry teams such as the New York Jets, will be forced to turn their attention to Green Bay Packers legend Aaron Rodgers, who is still mulling his NFL future as he remains under contract through the 2026 season, when he will be 43. Carr met with the Jets brass last week before reportedly reaching an agreement with the Saints.
Derek Carr has completed his move to the New Orleans Saints on a four-year contract
The move represents the first domino to fall in the NFL’s off-season quarterback market
Carr was released by the Raiders on February 14 after declining to waive his no-trade clause – something that would have guaranteed the final $40m on his contract over the next two years.
The decision allowed Carr to start the search for a new employer, which appears to have come to an end before NFL free agency even gets started on March 15.
Carr, 31, followed in his older brother David’s footsteps by enrolling at Fresno State, where he played alongside future Raiders teammate, wide receiver Davante Adams.
Taken in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Carr stands as the Raiders’ all-time leader in passing yardage (35,222) and touchdown passes (217), but is just 63-79 as a starter and hasn’t won a playoff game with the Silver and Black.
He was thought of as a potential stop-gap solution in New York, where the Jets hope to resurrect young Zach Wilson’s career or find another franchise quarterback in the near future.
Instead, Carr has decided to go to New Orleans, where the Saints went 7-10 last year as starter Jameis Winston battled a back injury. The former Heisman winner signed a two-year, $28 million deal with New Orleans before the season, but was ultimately demoted in favor of Andy Dalton.
On Sunday, ESPN reported that the Jets were Carr’s preferred destination, but that turned out not to be the case.
The Jets will now turn their attention to Rodgers, who remains undecided on the 2023 season. But trading for 39-year-old four-time MVP comes with its own set of hurdles
The Jets will now turn their attention to Rodgers, who remains undecided on the 2023 season.
But trading for 39-year-old four-time MVP comes with its own set of hurdles.
He signed a three-year, $150 million contact extension with the Packers before the 2022 season, and has a $31 million cap hit for 2023 that balloons to $40 million in 2024 and 2025.
And if the Jets can find a way to squeeze Rodgers under the NFL salary cap, there remains the question of what Green Bay would want in a trade for the former Super Bowl winner.
New York boasts both the Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year for 2022 in wide receiver Garrett Wilson and cornerback Sauce Gardner, respectively, but would presumably prefer to trade future draft picks rather than relinquishing their young talent.
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