Derek Carr to shun Jets and Panthers and sign with New Orleans Saints

Derek Carr will sign with the New Orleans Saints after also being pursued by the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers, according to ESPN. Carr appeared to confirm the news on Monday morning by posting a video of Saints star Tyrann Mathieu to social media.

Who dat ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/DIY8gBGuGu

The 31-year-old had met staff from the Jets, Panthers and Saints since his release from the Las Vegas Raiders last month. All three teams have need at quarterback and were keen on Carr, who was a solid if unspectacular leader for the Raiders since they drafted him in 2014. The Saints have failed to reach the playoffs since Drew Brees, a future Hall of Fame quarterback, retired at the end of the 2020 season. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Carr’s contract is for four years.

Carr has links with the Saints. The team’s head coach, Dennis Allen, drafted him in 2014 when he was in charge of the Raiders.

“[Allen] and I have a great relationship still to this day,” Carr said in October before a game between the Saints’ 24-0 victory over the Raiders. “And I still talk to him and things like that – obviously not this week and all those things – but we’ve always kept in contact, we’ve always been close.”

Carr set most significant quarterback records for the Raiders, including career passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating. However, he appeared in just one playoff game for the team and before he left Las Vegas he said the “fire burning inside of me to win a championship still rages”. In his final season with the Raiders, he had career lows in passer rating and completion percentage. However, he has a good chance of making the playoffs next season in a weak NFC South: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without Tom Brady, who