Derek Carr Excited To Join New Orleans Saints’ Winning Culture

Derek Carr hasn’t had the opportunity to experience much playoff football during his NFL career, and he is relishing the chance to play for a franchise that has consistently been in the mix after signing with the New Orleans Saints this offseason.

Despite producing years of arguably underrated quarterback play for the Raiders, Carr did not play his first postseason game until the franchise’s second year in Las Vegas in the 2021 campaign. The Raiders lost in the Wild Card round to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Last year, Carr was benched for the final two games of a 6-11 season. He stepped away from the team for those contests, the Raiders making that decision apparently to prevent an injury that would guarantee him $33 million in 2023.

Having waived a no-trade clause in contract and been released by the Raiders in February, Carr secured a four-year, $150 million deal with the Saints, a franchise that has perennially competed for the playoffs.

The Saints have made the playoff nine times since 2006. New Orleans qualified for the postseason for four straight seasons between 2017 and 2020 and, though the Saints have missed the playoffs for each of the previous two campaigns, Carr feels fortunate to have joined a team whose winning culture is well established.

“I’m happy to be somewhere where we’re in a stable organization that’s been proven for years,” Carr told The Fresno Bee.

“I hope that the Raiders find something good there too, where they can keep that stability for the next guys because I know how important it is and I care about my old teammates. But for the time being, I’m just excited to be a part of the Saints organization because they’ve won at a high level for a long time.”

“We had a great offseason as a team, really came together, and the work on the football field is very competitive,” added Carr.

“It’s one of the more competitive, as many camps I’ve ever been a part of. We have so many veterans that are really trying to prove it every day and trying to beat each other every day, talking trash. It was so competitive and so fun to be a part of.”

Carr has plenty of reason to be excited. The Saints play in the NFC South, which is wide open following the end of Tom Brady’s time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and boast an exciting group of offensive playmakers.

Chris Olave is looking to build on a stellar rookie season in which he racked up 1,042 receiving yards. Defenses won’t be able to key in on stopping him as much if former Offensive Player of the Year Michael Thomas can finally shake off the injury bug. In the backfield, Carr has one of the most dynamic safety nets in the NFL in Alvin Kamara.

On top of that, he is supported by a defense that ended last season ranked eighth by Football Outsiders DVOA. Though there may be some concern about Dennis Allen’s long-term viability as head coach, there is little doubt about his ability to keep the Saints’ defense among the best in the league.

Prior to his sole season playing under Josh McDaniels last year, Carr finished in the top 10 among qualifying quarterbacks in DYAR and DVOA – which measure total and per-play value respectively – in each of the three previous campaigns.

The challenge for offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and passing game coordinator Ronald Curry will be to coax that play out of him again.

New Orleans’ offensive performance under Carmichael last year, which saw them finish 22nd in DVOA, does not inspire much hope.

However, that came with Andy Dalton starting for much of the year. Carr is a clear upgrade over Dalton and has the talent around him to propel the Saints’ offense back into the top half of the NFL. In a division that is firmly up for grabs, such an improvement could lift the Saints and Carr back into the postseason.