Who better to comment on the New Orleans Saints quarterback situation than the best quarterback in Saints history? Drew Brees joined The Dan Patrick Show on Thursday to share his take on Derek Carr’s outlook in New Orleans, and it’s a move he’s embraced enthusiastically.
“I think it’s a great fit. I think it’s a great fit for him, great fit for the Saints,” Brees said. “I’ve always been impressed with Derek Carr. I think he’s been in a pretty dysfunctional situation, I think we all recognize that. Look at all that’s happened to the Raiders from a personnel perspective, all the controversy, I think he’s caught the brunt of that unfairly in a lot of ways.”
Stability is the name of the game in New Orleans. Mickey Loomis is the longest-tenured general manager in the league. Front office executives like Jeff Ireland, Khai Harley, and Michael Parenton have each been around for almost a decade or more. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. isn’t going anywhere, and the defense that Dennis Allen built is stronger than anything Carr has played with in the past.
But what about Carr’s system fit? Brees continued pointed to Carr’s experience in a similar offense as reason for optimism: “I’ve been impressed watching him play. He certainly has the ability to take an offense like what the Saints run and execute that well. Put a lot on his plate, where in many cases you’re going up to the line of scrimmage with multiple plays, the ability to check into multiple plays. Jon Gruden’s offense which he came up in was the same offense that we run. That West Coast-style, but the ability to ‘Hey we’re not going to run a bad play.’ That’s always the philosophy. We’re going to get out of bad plays, get into good plays, you have to be a smart quarterback to recognize that. I thought he’s always done a good job of that.”
So Brees is fully on board with this move. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reported that Brees helped recruit Carr to the Saints, selling the free agent quarterback on New Orleans’ organizational culture and strong supporting cast, neither of which he enjoyed with the Raiders. We’ll see if this move works out as well as hoped, but Brees’ endorsement is encouraging.
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