After missing the playoffs each of the last two seasons, the New Orleans Saints hope they have finally answered the question that has been hovering over the franchise’s head since Drew Brees announced his retirement.
After swinging and missing on a blockbuster trade attempt for Deshaun Watson last year, New Orleans is closing in on signing free-agent quarterback Derek Carr, according to Mike Garafalo of NFL Network. The move would give the Saints an accomplished veteran passer who they hope will restore some bite to an offense that has slacked in recent seasons.
Garafalo reported Carr is “headed to New Orleans” after nine seasons with the Raiders.
The #Saints are closing in on a deal with QB David Carr, sources tell me and @RapSheet. After nine seasons with the #Raiders, the four-time Pro Bowl selection is headed to New Orleans.
The first QB domino is about to fall and one NFC South team has its starter. pic.twitter.com/nuLSAhncLQ
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 6, 2023
Ian Rapoport, also of the NFL Network, then reported the Saints are giving Carr a four-year deal.
It is the first and most important domino to fall for the Saints this offseason.
Carr had spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Raiders, taking over the starting job in Week 1 of his 2014 rookie season and holding onto it until late last year, when Las Vegas decided it was ready to go in a different direction at quarterback. He is the Raiders’ all-time passing leader by a significant margin.
Carr has a clear connection with the Saints already: Saints head coach Dennis Allen held the same role with the Raiders from 2012-14 and played a role in selecting Carr 36th overall in the 2014 draft.
In nine seasons with the Raiders, Carr averaged 3,913 yards and 24 passing touchdowns per year. He has only missed three games because of injury in his career, though one of them was the Raiders’ 2016 Wild Card playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
Carr is coming off a disappointing season in 2022 under first-year Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels. Las Vegas entered the season with playoff aspirations after trading for All-Pro receiver Davante Adams — one of Carr’s close friends — but those hopes never materialized.
Carr’s 2022 passer rating (86.3) and completion percentage (60.8 %) were his worst marks since his rookie season, and the percentage of his pass attempts that were intercepted (2.8 %) was the worst mark of his career.
After 15 games, the Raiders decided to start Jarrett Stidham in Carr’s place, a clear signal Carr’s time with Las Vegas reached its end.
Carr had veto power over any trade, and a three-year extension he signed last year was set to trigger more than $40 million in guarantees Feb. 15, putting a hard deadline on a deal to get done.
The Saints received permission from the Raiders to speak with Carr and then hosted him Feb. 8 on a visit to New Orleans.
Though Carr’s meeting with the Saints went well, he informed the Raiders shortly after the meeting that he would not approve a trade. Las Vegas officially released Carr Feb. 14, immediately making him a free agent.
The Saints’ quarterback situation has been in flux since Brees retired after the 2021 season.
New Orleans initially turned to Jameis Winston to succeed Brees, with Winston beating out Taysom Hill in a training camp competition for the starting job. But after a promising start, Winston tore his ACL in his seventh game of the 2021 season. Three different players — Hill, Trevor Siemian and Ian Book — started in his absence.
The Saints signed Winston to a two-year deal prior to the 2022 season, but only after making an aggressive play for Watson. Though New Orleans publicly supported Winston as its starter, it moved on from him quickly after he suffered multiple debilitating injuries early in the 2022 season.
Winston’s play struggled as he tried to navigate back and foot injuries. The Saints turned to veteran Andy Dalton while Winston convalesced and then kept Dalton in the starting lineup for the final 14 games, even after Winston returned to the sidelines.
Dalton is currently a free agent, and Winston seems highly unlikely to return now that the Saints have signed Carr.
When combined with some other bad injury luck, the Saints’ instability at quarterback has made their offense as a whole suffer.
From 2006-20, New Orleans consistently ranked as one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, finishing with a top 10 scoring offense 13 times in 15 seasons and never finishing worse than 12th (in 2007). In the last two years, New Orleans finished 19th and 22nd in scoring offense.
When combining the last two seasons offensively, New Orleans ranks 21st out of 32 teams in yards per play (5.25), 22nd in scoring (20.4 points per game) and 24th in passing offense (202.3 yards per game).
The Saints are banking on Carr being a solution to those problems.
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