How many more teams will enter the Derek Carr sweepstakes? We know that the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets are in hot pursuit of the free agent quarterback, and it seems that other outfits like the Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders, and a few other needy teams could enter the mix. Per ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, that process has already started.
“Three other teams have recently called and connected with Derek Carr,” Darlington said, declining to identify them while adding that his visits with the Jets and Saints went very well.
To be frank, this feels like an effort by Carr’s agents to try and hurry this process along by adding pressure to New York or New Orleans in cutting a deal. Carr is working with a deadline of March 13, the start of the NFL’s legal tampering period, when other free agent quarterbacks will be cleared to talk shop with other teams. That will give the Jets and Saints other options and likely depress his own market value.
At the same time, though, conversations are probably picking up between Carr’s representatives and interested teams ahead of the NFL scouting combine. That’s where many meetings between team executives and agents happen behind closed doors in steakhouses and in smoky booths in dive bars around Indianapolis, often leading to handshake agreements ahead of free agency. If Carr and his team feel time is of the essence, they’ll be moving quickly to get him on a new roster somewhere around the league.