The Jets have not shown any urgency with Derek Carr
Derek Carr seems to be one step closer to being off the market.
According to Ian Rapoport and others, Carr’s talks with the Saints are continuing over two days and appear to be gaining traction.
From Super Bowl Live: The #Saints visit with #Raiders QB Derek Carr was a lengthy one. pic.twitter.com/Ttlikod0uj
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 9, 2023
According to Rapoport, the Saints had to indicate that they were willing to meet the Raiders’ rough terms of a trade agreement in order to meet with Carr. However, he also said that the specific terms of a trade were not ironed out.
Carr’s discussions with New Orleans are mainly about his contract. He has a $33 million cap hit in 2023, which grows to $43.9 million in 2024 and $43.2 million in 2025. The assumption is that any team acquiring Carr would want to restructure that deal somewhat. This is particularly the case for the Saints, who are currently $52 million over the 2023 salary cap.
However, Carr would need to agree to the terms prior to the trade, as he has a full no-trade clause.
So far, New Orleans is the only team known to have received permission to talk to Carr. According to Sanjit T, a local Vegas writer who covers the Raiders but is not a beat reporter, Carr canceled his meetings with other teams.
Derek Carr reportedly canceled his other visits with teams. With him leaving to go back to Vegas in a few hours, this could be the final step to finalizing his contract. https://t.co/Dcj4atKkoZ
— Sanjit T. (@Sanjit__T) February 9, 2023
Rich Cimini stated last week that he does not get the sense the Jets are all that interested in Carr. That appears to be the case from the way things are going down. If Carr does end up with the Saints, though, that narrows the top-end QB market to Aaron Rodgers, who is set to embark on a four-day isolation retreat to decide if he wants to continue playing.
That is a dangerous basket to put all your eggs in, especially because as of now, Rodgers cannot realistically be traded until after June 1.
There has been some reporting in recent days that Jimmy Garoppolo could end up being the Jets’ target. There is some debate about how big the dropoff from Carr to Garoppolo is; we at Jet X have posted varying opinions because not all our writers agree.
However, there will no doubt be a lot of disappointment among Jets fans if Garoppolo or Ryan Tannehill is the Game 1 starter in 2023. The team’s ceiling certainly seems to be much lower that way.
