Derek Carr meeting with a trio of teams at 2023 Scouting Combine
According to Ian Rapoport, Derek Carr is visiting teams at the combine. The report mentions that Carr is speaking to representatives from the Jets, Panthers, and Saints among other teams. What does this mean for Carr sweepstakes? How can the Saints afford Carr?
As already mentioned, the Derek Carr free agency pursuit seems to be in full swing. Teams are meeting with Carr at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. It seems the favorites at this moment are the Saints, Jets, and Panthers. The Jets need to get a starting-caliber QB for their roster ASAP. It seems that New York is laser-focused on making that happen.
The Jets have the best chance of getting Carr. From a cap standpoint, they have way much more room to operate with than the Saints on the 2023 salary cap as of right now and won’t have to jump through so many hoops to make a deal happen.
The Jets would still use the signing bonus to spread the cap hit over multiple years but their cap hit in later years will not be as high as the Saints due to the fact that they can offer more money in base salary. The Saints will have to work on their calculators to get to a point where they can offer Carr a deal that is around $7 to 8 million in base salary for year one (signing bonus covers the rest of his year one salary, assuming five years).
The NFC south would be the easier division than the AFC East where any team with decent QB play will likely win a very lackluster division. Getting Carr will not make the Jets better than the Bills, and it will be challenging for the QB to get a home-field advantage in the playoffs.
While the Saints are an option to go due to their lackluster division, going to the Panthers is actually the best decision Carr could make. Carolina has seemed like a team that would trade up or just straight-up select a QB in this year’s upcoming draft.
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If Carolina wants to win a good shot of hosting a playoff game for the first time in years, signing Derek Carr would make them the favorite in the NFC South to do so.