Bang: we’ve got movement. The New Orleans Saints will host Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr for a visit at their facility on Wednesday, as first reported by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and confirmed by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. The Raiders have a hard deadline to reach an agreement on trading Carr to a new team before Feb. 15, when more than $40 million guarantees on his contract. If no trade agreement is reached prior to that deadline, he’ll be released and become a free agent.
A trade won’t be processed until March 15 at the start of the new league year, and most of that money will convey onto Carr’s new team if he is traded. This is complicated by the no-trade clause Carr has in his contract. He can throw his weight around and force a trade to a team if he chooses, but the Saints won’t be his only suitor. The Saints would also need to create about $34 million in salary cap space to fit him on their books, and they’re currently over the cap by more than $57 million. They have their work cut out for them.
So it’s on New Orleans to sell him on what they have to offer. They have a solid supporting cast on offense with pass-catchers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, running back Alvin Kamara, and an offensive line flush with high draft picks. Their defense is stronger than any unit Carr has ever played with. We’ll see if they can successfully recruit him. It’s worth noting that Carr was drafted by Saints head coach Dennis Allen when he was coaching the Raiders back in 2014, so a relationship already exists there.