Derek Carr remains in New Orleans for a second day of this Raiders-approved visit. After the Carr-Saints meeting wrapped at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nick Underhill notes the meeting continued Thursday.
Dennis Allen and Saints brass went to dinner with Carr on Wednesday night, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who adds New Orleans is viewed as the frontrunner to land the nine-year veteran. The Raiders and Saints have not agreed completely on terms, but Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets the framework of an agreement is in place.
Initially, the Raiders were not prepared to allow Carr to speak with any team that had not agreed on trade terms. By broadening that baseline to suitors who are in the ballpark of Las Vegas’ preferred compensation, a visit came to pass. Carr wields a no-trade clause, giving him the ability to nix a Raiders-Saints agreement. No deal is expected to be finalized Thursday, Rapoport adds.
Six days remain until Carr’s $40.4M guarantee vests. The Raiders will not pay their longtime quarterback that money, which will lead to a trade or release. The Saints, whose Carr interest generated buzz at the Senior Bowl, are almost the de facto front-runner here as no other team has been granted permission to speak with Carr. Concerns about Carr’s agent using talks to gauge free agency interest helped lead to the narrow parameters on visits. Even though Carr has only spoken with the Saints, other teams have looked into this early free agency sweepstakes.
The Commanders and Jets were mentioned as suitors late last month, and the Jets are examining Carr. The Commanders are taking a somewhat unexpected offseason course, at least compared to how they have proceeded in recent offseasons. Expected to shed $26M-plus by releasing Carson Wentz, Washington is planning to give Sam Howell a long look as a potential starter. The team is still monitoring veterans, but not to the degree it did in 2022. Commanders connections to just about every potentially available vet sprang up last year, leading to the Wentz swap. Despite Howell being a fifth-round pick and making one appearance as a rookie, he appears to have a decent chance to be Washington’s 2023 starter.
Expected to dive far deeper into the veteran QB pool, the Jets will need to determine if they want to pursue Carr now or wait for the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Garoppolo or another potentially available arm. The Raiders have also been connected to Garoppolo and Rodgers, raising the stakes for a Jets team that has been tied to vet QBs for weeks.
New Orleans has Jameis Winston under contract through 2023, but after benching Drew Brees‘ initial successor, the Saints should not be expected to retain him. Not when they are $60M over the cap. As of mid-January, no Andy Dalton talks had occurred, either. While the Saints did obtain a first-round pick from the Broncos in the Sean Payton trade, that pick sits at No. 29 overall. This draft’s top four QBs will likely be gone by that point, and a veteran would seem to complement the Saints’ experienced roster better anyway.
