Saints give Carr the keys to offense as Titans visit
NEW ORLEANS — Changing teams was a boon to the NFL career of Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Derek Carr hopes to follow suit with the New Orleans Saints.
The Carr era in New Orleans kicks off Sunday, when the Saints host the Titans in an opening matchup of teams seeking a return to playoff contention after each went 7-10 last season.
Carr, who came from the Las Vegas Raiders — the only franchise he played for in his first nine pro seasons — was New Orleans’ top target during free agency. The four-time Pro Bowl selection has described changing teams at this point in his career as emotionally challenging yet rejuvenating.
“You fall in love with one place. You give them all that you have for almost a decade, and now all of a sudden it’s gone. I’m just excited, man, to start over. I’m not trying to prove anybody wrong,” Carr said, adding that he’s more focused on proving Saints coach Dennis Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis right.
Tannehill spent his first six seasons in the league as a starter for the Miami Dolphins, playing for mostly mediocre teams. The Dolphins made the playoffs once with Tannehill in 2016, losing in the wild-card round.
In four seasons since he joined the Titans, initially as a backup to Marcus Mariota, they have been to the playoffs three times, going as far as the AFC championship game in the 2019 season after he took over as the starter in mid-October. (NFL small world moment: Mariota joined the Raiders after that season and backed up Carr in 2020 and 2021.)
“Everything in that situation is a new experience, right? So you’re learning a lot along the way, learning a lot of new teammates. Could be a new offense, new city,” Tannehill recalled. “I came in and just tried to do my job each and every day and then prepare myself to go win games.”
The Raiders made the playoffs just twice and never won a postseason game with Carr. Still, his signing had a ripple effect on the roster in New Orleans, spurring Michael Thomas to agree to a one-year deal to return. The two-time All-Pro receiver who set the NFL record for single-season catches with 149 in 2019 is trying to prove he can make it through a season healthy after struggling to do so the past three years.
Tight end Jimmy Graham, who was out of football last season, also rejoined the Saints, with whom he spent his first five seasons. Also signing as a free agent was tight end Foster Moreau, a New Orleans native and former LSU player who was Carr’s teammate with the Raiders the past four years.
“I’m really excited to be here with Derek,” Moreau said. “He’s been a really good player in this league for a long time, and he can command an offense.”
Carr will have the letter “C” on his jersey for his regularseason debut with the Saints after he was one of seven captains selected by teammates this past week. He said going from a place where he was no longer wanted to a place where he was immediately voted into a leadership role “means the world to me.”
Tannehill, in the final year of his contract with the Titans, is excited about having a chance to throw to three-time All-Pro first-team receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Tennessee signed Hopkins just before training camp to bolster a passing attack that was 30th in the NFL last season. Tannehill said he had fun getting to know Hopkins during the preseason, and he credited the receiver with working hard to build trust and chemistry with him but now it’s “just a matter of doing it on Sundays.”
Tannehill will have a familiar face in the backfield with Derrick Henry, a secondround draft pick of the Titans in 2016 who has averaged close to 1,200 rushing yards per season and eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark in 2020 to lead the league for the second year in a row. After rushing for 937 yards while missing half of the 2021 season due to injury, he ranked second with 1,538 yards last season.