The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Jets QB target Carr won’t rush into signing with a new team
NEW YORK — It appears Derek Carr isn’t in any hurry to find a new NFL home after he was recently released by the Raiders.
Carr, who the Jets hosted on a free-agent visit last weekend, will take his time and talk to as many teams as possible, according to his older brother David.
David Carr, a former NFL quarterback and now an analyst on the NFL Network, says his younger brother will be taking things slow.
“He had a great trip, but it’s honestly going to be a long process, though,” David Carr said on Monday. “He really only has the Saints, the Raiders and the Jets to kind of compare those three places. So he wants to do his due diligence and see as many places as he can to get a feel for what the best place for him will be.”
The Saints were the four-time Pro Bowler’s first stop on his offseason tour.
Unlike other impending free agents who must wait until the beginning of the new league year on March 15, Carr is free to sign with any team. The Raiders released him on Feb. 14 after declining to waive his no-trade clause and before a deadline that would have guaranteed him $40.4 million in future salary under his previous contract.
Las Vegas benched Carr for the final two games of the 2022 season, which set the wheels in motion for his eventual release.
During his nine years with the Raiders, Carr threw for 35,222 yards passing and 217 touchdown passes — both franchise records. But the big regular-season stats never translated into postseason success for Carr and the Raiders. The team made just two playoff appearances during Carr’s time with the franchise.
Following a season when the Jets finished 7-10 and lost six consecutive games to miss the playoffs for a 12th straight year, Gang Green is once again in the market for a starting quarterback.
The Jets have drafted a quarterback in the first round twice during the last five years with Sam Darnold (2018) and Zach Wilson (2021), but both players failed to live up to expectations. Darnold was traded to the Panthers months after the Jets hired coach Robert Saleh two years ago. Wilson is still on the Jets roster but was benched multiple times throughout the 2022 season and they want to add a veteran quarterback to groom the former second-overall pick.
Last season, the Jets offense was mediocre at best. They finished 25th in yardage (318.2) and 29th in points per game (17.4). In attempts to get the offense jump started, the Jets also started Joe Flacco and Mike White. They also benched Wilson for Chris Streveler in a 19-3 loss to the Jaguars on Dec. 22.
Jets owner Woody Johnson told reporters last month that a veteran quarterback was the “missing piece” after the Jets finished fourth in total defense (311.1) and points allowed (18.6).
What complicates matters is the Jets have also inquired about Aaron Rodgers as they wait for him to decide on his future.
Rodgers is on a “darkness retreat” and he hasn’t figured out if he wants to return to the Packers for his 19th season or ask for a trade.
“He went there to get a feel for how they work, from the top down,” David Carr, who served as Eli Manning’s backup with the Giants for two seasons, said about his brother’s visit to Florham Park. “Everyone he met — and we knew he would love Robert Saleh — I’ve known Robert for a while ... he’s fantastic. They hit it off, and they would love to work together.
“But there’s a lot of questions to be asked. He has to find out the inner workings — obviously how the front office works, but then also, I think the most important thing for him as a veteran quarterback: what is it going to be like as an offensive play-caller and a quarterback and that relationship. Todd Downing is there — he has a relationship with Todd. Nathaniel Hackett is also there. So how does all that work? They had a good chat, they talked about a lot of different things.”