Derek Carr formally meets with Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints in Indianapolis
Derek Carr wrapped up two of his free agent meetings with the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Carr met with the Saints twice this offseason while he finally met with the Panthers brass in Indianapolis amid the NFL Scouting Combine. But, Carr has one more team to meet with during his free agency tour.
And it’ll be his second time with another AFC franchise.
“QB Derek Carr met with the Saints and Panthers yesterday, sources say, with Carolina owner David Tepper joining the meeting in Indy,” Rapoport wrote on Twitter. “Today, Jets brass will meet with the FA QB, including owner Woody Johnson. Carr also met with New Orleans owner Gayle Benson previously.”
No other teams were reportedly interested or planned to meet with the former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback. Seemingly one of the Saints, Panthers or Jets will land Carr in free agency.
Carr is a plug and play quarterback after a successful tenure with the Raiders. The Jets were long considered the best option on paper due to the offensive and defensive rosters and youth showcased in 2022.
Carr spent the entirety of his nine-year career to this point with the Raiders, but led them to just two playoff appearances in that span. He became a free agent with an opportunity to receive an even bigger payday than the $40.4 million he was set to receive if he stayed in Las Vegas.
But it is unknown if he’ll get that type of cash with his new team.
Carr left the Raiders as the franchise’s all-time leading passer with 35,222 yards, 217 touchdowns and 99 interceptions. He made four Pro Bowl appearances over his career including this past season. Carr threw for 3,522 yards, 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions as Las Vegas finished 6-11 in 2022.
Panthers head coach Frank Reich was asked about Carr earlier in February. However, the new head coach did not confirm nor deny the team would bring him in for a visit.
“You know, interesting question,” Reich said. We’re really literally sitting down with the guys today (and our) first staff meeting will be tomorrow. But I’ve kind of met with guys individually saying, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re doing first. Step one is to evaluate our roster, you know, so we’re really just starting that process. So, step two, evaluate the free agents.
“Everybody’s got their list. Step three, now go into the college guys. So that process has literally begun so I’m really not ready to address the specifics of that because we’re really just beginning.”