You can bet Derek Carr has this date circled on his calendar. The New Orleans Saints will host his old Las Vegas Raiders team for their penultimate matchup in 2024, giving Carr a great opportunity for payback on the team that cast him aside.
Of course this isn’t the same Raiders team that Carr played for. Antonio Pierce replaced Josh McDaniels as head coach, and Luke Getsy was hired as their offensive coordinator this spring (having also been pursued by the Saints). Their quarterback competition is pitting Gardner Minshew against Aidan O’Connell, who chose to give up Carr’s old No. 4 jersey after it was assigned to him.
The Raiders have been busy spenders in free agency, signing superstar defensive tackle Christian Wilkins away from the Miami Dolphins. They also added his Dolphins teammate John Jenkins; the 12th-year nose tackle’s career began in New Orleans. Las Vegas added more veterans like running back Alexander Mattison, guard Cody Whitehair, and tight end Harrison Bryant.
In the draft, they surprised a lot of viewers by picking Georgia tight end Brock Bowers at No. 13 (which scuttled the Saints’ trade talks with the Los Angeles Rams, who were looking to move up for him) before adding Oregon center/guard Jackson Powers-Johnson in Round 2 and Maryland offensive tackle Delmar Glaze in Round 3. Pairing Bowers with Michael Mayer, last year’s second-round pick, could give them one of the league’s best one-two punches at tight end.
So how challenging will the Raiders be in 2024? They don’t have a viable quarterback but they did finish in second-place in the AFC West last year. They’ve made moves to upgrade their porous run defense while getting more dynamic at the skills positions. The expectation is for Pierce’s team to be jockeying for better draft position than playoff seeding at the end of the year, but you never know. Maybe they’ve got the right mix of talent to succeed where Carr came up short.
- Game information: New Orleans Saints vs. Las Vegas Raiders
- Location: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, La.
- Date: Dec. 29
- Time: Noon CT / 1 p.m. ET
- TV Channel: FOX
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