Derek Carr changes his mind at the last minute with NFL free agency decision
By Kristen Wong
Not so fast with the Derek Carr to New York Jets rumors. A recent report has Carr making a 180 and going back to a team that was interested in him from the very beginning of the offseason — the New Orleans Saints.
Free agent quarterback Derek Carr has apparently made up his mind on his future and is close to an agreement with the New Orleans Saints this offseason.
As first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Saints have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Carr, and a deal could be finalized by the end of today. It’s a head-jerking move that will send Carr to the Big Easy and help former Las Vegas Raiders coach Dennis Allen rebuild the Saints in the post Sean Payton era, leaving the New York Jets to find another solution at quarterback.
NOLA had been gunning for Carr for several months now and were the only team to finish a trade proposal with the Las Vegas Raiders before Carr became a free agent. After hosting Carr for several visits, Carr decided to test free agency and was seemingly enamored with the New York Jets who courted Carr with plenty of praise, even telling him he could be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer if he joined the franchise.
New York’s whispered sweet nothings have manifested in, well, nothing. Carr appears set to join New Orleans for 2023 with a deal presumably getting done as we speak.
Saints have emerged as the front runners to sign former Raiders’ QB Derek Carr and an agreement could be reached as early as today, per league sources. pic.twitter.com/f02UQ3m1pL
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 6, 2023
#Saints made their final pitch to Derek Carr late last night and early this morning, per source. Carr slept on it and ultimately decided to sign with New Orleans, who had zeroed in on him from beginning. #Jets remain in on Aaron Rodgers
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 6, 2023
Derek Carr pulls a U-turn and works on finalizing an agreement with the New Orleans Saints
The Jets had previously been the team most rumored to land Carr, getting a cautious vote of confidence from several NFL pundits in recent weeks. All of that turned out to be mere speculation with Carr reportedly heading to NOLA instead.
A day ago, NOLA had cleared cap space to fit Carr by restructuring the contracts of Demario Davis and Taysom Hill. Notorious for frequently reworking contracts to navigate the franchise through cap space hell, Mickey Loomis and the Saints front office has somehow done it again and are prepared to absorb Carr’s cap hit in 2023.
The exact details of Carr’s contracts have yet to be released, though one can imagine that the Saints are happy to have secured their desired quarterback without having to give up any trade compensation.
Carr will be reunited with Dennis Allen, the coach that drafted him, and help the Saints become contenders once again.
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