Derek Carr Drops the Perfect First Tweet as Saints QB as Details on 4-Year Contract are Revealed
The Saints got their man in quarterback Derek Carr, but how much is it going to cost them?
The news that Carr was headed to New Orleans broke early Monday morning (Feb. 6) as NFL insiders revealed that the Saints were closing in on a deal with the Pro Bowl quarterback.
Although teams like the New York Jets, and the Carolina Panthers were also reportedly in the running, New Orleans was the ultimate landing spot for Carr, who was released by the Las Vegas Raiders.
His first tweet as a Saint was simple but spoke volumes; very LOUD volumes.
While it's painfully obvious that the Saints needed to figure out the quarterback position—something that has been shaky since the exit of future Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees—what will Carr cost the Saints?
More importantly, how does it compare to a realistic value that he can bring to the organization as well as other quarterbacks in the same price range?
According to Ian Rapoport, Carr's 4-year deal will be for $150M with $100M in total guaranteed money.
While some Saints fans may get a little sticker shock after reading those numbers, it's important to look at how it compares to other quarterbacks in that price range.
Mike Triplett alluded to Carr working with the Saints in Year 1 in order to build a "win now" roster, so the cap hit in 2023 may not be horrendous, but this could be something that the Saints end up paying for down the road.
As the old saying goes, Carr's contract is "the cost of doing business" in the NFL as it lines up with quarterbacks of the same caliber around the league. Many are already speculating that the first domino to fall in the Saints' offseason is the most important move they needed to make and will likely attract talent to fill in the blanks at other positions like RB and DL.
Michael Thomas is definitely happy to hear the news as he has been retweeting announcements of Carr's signing with the Saints all morning along with this tell-tale tweet.
It should be noted that Carr also has a no-trade clause with the Saints, similar to the one he had with the Raiders that allowed him to control his own destiny in the future.
Check out the original story on how the Saints reached the deal with Carr and stay tuned for more updates on the Saints new QB1.