Derek Carr isn't the best quarterback in the NFL, but when he's healthy, he's a pretty darn good signal-caller. That's why the New Orleans Saints feel that he's "their guy" heading into the 2024 season.
"I think we feel like we've got a guy we can win with," general manager Mickey Loomis said at the NFL Scouting Combine, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.
Can the Saints win regular-season games with Carr? Sure. He has a 77-92 regular-season record. Win anything of consequence, though? Carr has been in the league since being selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Raiders and has an 0-1 postseason record.
Still, the Saints are saying the right things. At the very least, they feel they have a quarterback who knows how to play in this league, and that experience can be very valuable as new head coach Kellen Moore — a former quarterback himself — looks to turn things around in New Orleans.
"We feel fortunate to have Derek here, the experience he has. He's a big-time quarterback in this league," Moore said at the combine.
Car is under contract through 2026 and is due $30 million this season in base salary.
Saint GM on Derek Carr: We feel we have a guy we can win with
When Kellen Moore held his introductory press conference a couple of weeks ago, he said he is “really excited to team up” with Derek Carr in his first season in New Orleans.
Moore stopped short of calling Carr the team’s Week One starting quarterback, but his comments signaled that the team was moving in that direction and General Manager Mickey Loomis did the same while talking to reporters from the Scouting Combine on Wednesday.
“I think we feel like we’ve got a guy we can win with,” Loomis said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com.
Keeping Carr means dealing with his $51 million-plus cap hit and Loomis said “we’re going to hopefully be able to maneuver” in a way that cuts that number down. Restructuring would free up a good amount of cap space, but it would increase future cap liabilities and increase a 2026 cap hit that’s currently more than $61 million.
