The Derek Carr saga has taken another turn as the quarterback has reportedly told the Las Vegas Raiders he will not accept a trade to the New Orleans Saints, or any other team in the NFL, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
That means the Raiders are expected to release him, making him one of the top free agent quarterbacks available this offseason.
Tom Pelissero added to the report saying the Raiders and Saints had agreed to the framework for a trade, but the sticking point was Carr’s contract that guaranteed him more than $40M for the 2023 season.
Carr had a no-trade clause in his contract, allowing him to veto any deal.
Given that the Raiders benched Carr late in the season for Jarett Stidham, he was probably not very motivated to do the team a favor by re-working his deal to help the out in a trade situation here.
This, of course, does not mean that Carr won’t still end up in New Orleans.
He spent an extended period of time visiting with them over the past few days and there is clearly a need for the Saints to upgrade at quarterback.
This might even end up working out better for the Saints if they can convince Carr to sign with them because they might get him for less money without having to give up any assets in a trade.
Carr threw for 3,522 yards this past season to go with 24 touchdowns. While it was a down year for him statistically, especially due to his 14 interceptions, he still has a track record of being a very good quarterback and will no doubt have plenty of suitors as an unrestricted free agent.
Assuming Lamar Jackson gets the exclusive franchise tag in Baltimore, Carr might be the top free agent quarterback option on the open market.
Daniel Jones, Geno Smith and Jimmy Garoppolo are some of the other pending free agents quarterbacks.
