And we’re off. The Las Vegas Raiders released longtime starting quarterback Derek Carr on Tuesday, ahead of their self-imposed deadline to cut him or guarantee more than $40 million to him over the next two seasons. This move makes Carr a free agent and he is immediately eligible to sign with any team — and the New Orleans Saints remain an active player in his sweepstakes.
“The Saints are still interested in Derek Carr and Derek Carr is still interested in the Saints,” said NFL insider Ian Rapoport during a Monday appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. The Saints are the only team Carr has met with yet, having sought to trade for him with the Raiders last week, but Carr opted to use his no-trade clause so he could reach free agency and test all offers on the market.
One team contending for Carr’s services plays in the same division, with the NFC South-rival Carolina Panthers listed as one of his suitors by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. At least one betting outlet favors the Panthers to acquire Carr, and Carolina does have the resources to get a deal done now that he’s free to entertain all offers. We’ll see which suitors emerge in the days ahead.
There are a couple of benefits to signing Carr as a free agent rather than trading for him. For one thing, the Saints (and any other team) can sign him at the market price rather than inherit an existing contract. For another, they aren’t just giving up assets to trade — because Carr has been released, he will not factor into the compensatory draft picks formula and count against any free agent departures. So if the Saints were to receive a comp pick in 2024 for losing someone like Marcus Davenport, they could sign Carr and not jeopardize it (as happened last year when they signed Marcus Maye and Andy Dalton, costing them comp picks for Terron Armstead and Marcus Williams).
But we’re out ahead of our skis here. Let’s just see whether the Saints can meet Carr’s price and come out on top. If they can’t land him, they’ll have to settle for a lower-tier free agent quarterback like Baker Mayfield or roll the dice on a rookie draft pick.
