Both the Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints head into the 2023 season with new quarterbacks under center.
After releasing Carr in the offseason, the Raiders went out and signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year deal. On the flip side, Carr was able to land a lucrative four-year, $150 million deal with the Saints.
It was a sad end to Carr’s tenure with Las Vegas, but he lands in a great situation with New Orleans. Despite not having played a game yet for the Saints, Carr has already drawn support from legends like Drew Brees via Adam Hill of Las Vegas Review-Journal:
“I think it’s a great move for him and the organization,” Drew Brees said of the recent signing of former Raiders star Derek Carr. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for him and always felt he was a fairly underrated player that probably didn’t get the respect he deserved.”
Brees spoke at length about Carr’s situation and believes that the signal-caller has an excellent opportunity to prove that he can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league:
“(Carr) is much more of a seasoned veteran than I was when I got here,” Brees said. “I think for him, first off, leaving the situation he was in and getting a fresh start was going to be a good thing anyway. But he’s stepping into a situation where it’s a great organization, one that will do whatever it takes to build the pieces around him and win. That’s been proven.
“He just has all these things going for him. I think he’s at that point in his career where it’s the balance of having enough experience while still playing at a high level with all your physical capabilities. I call it prolonging your prime. He’s at the point where he’s got it all and here’s the opportunity to go out and really showcase it.”
There’s no denying that Carr’s time with the Silver and Black ran its course, but now he’s got a real shot to show that the franchise was wrong for letting him go. Carr managed to stay professional during the process, but there are undoubtedly some hard feelings given the way he was treated towards the end.
For the Raiders, though, they’ve got to look forward and try to turn around the team with the new pieces they’ve got on the roster. Like Carr, Garoppolo’s got his fair share of questions he needs to answer so it’ll be interesting to see how he looks when the games finally kick-off.
