The New Orleans Saints came out on top of a bidding war for quarterback Derek Carr this past offseason, luring him to Louisiana after he was released by the Las Vegas Raiders. One year later, New Orleans could go through the same process as the Raiders.
Lass Vegas searched tirelessly to find a trade partner for Carr last spring, with the Saints among the teams interested. However, the veteran quarterback had a no-trade clause in his contract and a sizable cap charge in 2023 that made him nearly impossible to trade. Not long after being released, he signed with New Orleans.
- Derek Carr stats 2023: 93.6 QB rating, 67.4 percent completion rate, 19-8 TD-INT, 3,417 passing yards, 7.0 yards per attempt, 227.8 passing yards per game, 51.6 QBR
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The Saints had visions of Carr helping this offense take another step forward, winning the NFC South and improving the consistency of the Saints’ offense. However, he’s been outperformed in comparison by Andy Dalton’s production in New Orleans last season.
With head coach Dennis Allen already on the NFL coaching hot seat, there are now growing calls for the front office to also make a change at quarterback in 2024. While it wouldn’t be the most cost-effective option for New Orleans, it does at least appear to be somewhat plausible.
“I think he was fine,” Allen said. I think he was fine. I think, obviously, there’s sometimes, again, where maybe get through his progression a little bit quicker, maybe hang in there a little bit more. There’s a lot of things that go into it, but I thought overall, it was a solid game for him.”
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen on Derek Carr’s performance in Week 16
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote on Friday that the Saints could eat the $30 million fully guaranteed that Carr is owed in 2024 and dump him before another $10 million that he would be owed in 2025 becomes fully guaranteed next March.
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- Derek Carr contract: $7.2 million cap hit in 2023, $35.7 million cap hit in 2024, $45.7 million cap hit in 2025, full no-trade clause
While Florio doesn’t necessarily believe that’s likely to happen, he does think there’s a higher likelihood if the Saints pursue a coaching change. If New Orleans hires an external candidate, the next head coach might want to choose the starting quarterback in 2024.
In that scenario, one possibility could see the Saints floating Carr in NFL trade rumors. While he would still own a sizable cap hit, New Orleans could offer to cover a portion of his salary in 2024 as part of a trade with a quarterback-needy team. While the Saints would certainly encounter the same difficulties as the Raiders did in the 2023 NFL offseason, especially because Carr still has a no-trade clause, the number of teams desperate for stability at quarterback could at least create a small market of suitors for Carr.
