Tag: Derek Carr

Mac Jones, Kenny Pickett sold more official merch than Derek Carr did in 2023

Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett were benched and later traded, but the NFLPA says they still sold more licensed merchandise in the last year than Derek Carr:

New Orleans Saints fans haven’t exactly embraced Derek Carr. They’ve kept high standards at quarterback after enjoying so many years of Drew Brees’ excellence, and their hesitance to support Carr after he failed to lead the team to the playoffs may have felt warranted.

That lukewarm reception was backed up by the NFL Players Association annual report on licensed merchandise sales, which didn’t include Carr inn its top 50. Here are the criteria:

The NFLPA Top 50 Player Sales List is the only verified ranking of all officially licensed, NFL player-branded merchandise sold from online and traditional retail outlets as reported by over 85 NFLPA licensees such as Fanatics, Outerstuff, Nike, Fathead, FOCO and Funko. Licensed product categories included trading cards, men’s, women’s and youth game jerseys, T-shirts and hoodies, backpacks, wall decals, pennants, collectible figurines, matted and framed photos, bobbleheads, plush, drinkware, pet products, and many more

While Carr didn’t make the cut, other quarterbacks did — and several of them were benched by the teams they played for last year, traded after the season, or both. Mac Jones was sidelined by the New England Patriots after stumbling to a 2-9 record, and later traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but he clocked in at No. 50. Both of the quarterbacks the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired in trades this offseason made the list (Russell Wilson at No. 42, Justin Fields at No. 31), as did their own former first-round quarterback bust Kenny Pickett (No. 34).

So if it felt like there weren’t many Carr jerseys inside the Caesars Superdome last year, you were probably right. Carr needs to do better than what we saw from him last year to win Saints fans over. Another year without reaching the playoffs and on-field chirping with his coaches and teammates won’t convince anyone he’s worth supporting with an autographed photo, refrigerator magnet, or even a trading card. Hopefully he’s up to the challenge.

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NFL draft: Archie Manning is the Saints’ last first-round quarterback

It’s been 53 years since the New Orleans Saints drafted a first-round quarterback. How does their drought compare to the rest of the NFL?

Quarterbacks are coming at a premium these days. Because of that, you see more quarterbacks drafted in the first round. The New Orleans Saints haven’t followed that trend, however. They haven’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since Archie Manning in 1971. That’s a 53-year gap — the longest active such drought in the NFL.

The next-closest team is the Dallas Cowboys, who haven’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since Troy Aikman in 1989. That’s still 18 years after the Saints took Manning.

Let’s take it beyond the first round. The Saints haven’t drafted a starting quarterback in over 30 years. Ian Book starting a game because of COVID is the closest they’ve come. New Orleans has instead opted for the free agent route. It’s easy to take that road when Drew Brees is your franchise quarterback for over a decade, but this trend obviously predates Brees.

Technically, the Saints have had two former first-rounders start for them recently. Derek Carr and Jameis Winston were both former first-round picks but not by the Saints.

Seventeen teams have drafted a quarterback in the first round since 2020. All but three teams have drafted a quarterback since the turn of the century. Like the doctors say, results may vary. The success of Carr, specifically this season, will determine when the Saints are able to update their position on the list with a more recent year than 1971.

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Countdown to Kickoff: Kendal Vickers is the Saints Player of Day 91

Countdown to Kickoff: Kendal Vickers is the New Orleans Saints Player of Day 91. Can he outplay younger competition to win a roster spot?

We’re continuing our countdown to the 2024 season with each New Orleans Saints player to hold the corresponding jersey number — and with 91 days to go, it means we’re highlighting the current No. 91, defensive tackle Kendal Vickers. So what’s his story, and what are realistic goals for him in 2024? Let’s break it down:

  • Name (Age): Kendal Vickers (29)
  • Position: Defensive tackle
  • Height, weight: 6-foot-3, 295 pounds
  • Relative Athletic Score: 7.57
  • 2024 salary cap hit: $1,055,000
  • College: Tennessee
  • Drafted: Undrafted in 2018 (Pittsburgh Steelers)
  • NFL experience: 4 seasons

Vickers signed with the Saints after trying out at their rookie minicamp in May, along with a couple of other veteran free agents. He’s someone players on the roster know well from lining up against in the past at practice. He played college football at Tennessee with Alvin Kamara and the bulk of his pro experience came on the Las Vegas Raiders with Derek Carr. Before that he spent a couple years on practice squads around the league. He appeared in two games with the Buffalo Bills last season.

There’s room for one more player in the Saints’ defensive tackle rotation after Malcolm Roach left in free agency, so Vickers might have an easier path to making the roster than you may think. He’s primarily worked as a backup, having logged 603 defensive snaps in 27 games from 2020 to 2023, and that figures to be his role behind Nathan Shepherd, Bryan Bresee, and Khalen Saunders. Rookie draft pick Khristian Boyd is in the mix as well as Jack Heflin, who spent the 2023 season on New Orleans’ practice squad, so Vickers must outwork two young competitors over the summer to earn that spot on the 53-man roster.

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2024 Saints game previews: Week 17 vs. Las Vegas Raiders

2024 New Orleans Saints game previews: Derek Carr has an opportunity for some payback in Week 17 versus his old Las Vegas Raiders team

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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Dennis Allen ranked 32nd among NFL’s 32 head coaches

Dennis Allen was ranked 32nd among the NFL’s 32 head coaches. New hires are unknown quantities, but Touchdown Wire argues we know what DA is:

Yikes. Dennis Allen has a lot to prove in 2024, but some observers (and some New Orleans Saints fans) are already prepared for the coach to go. Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey ranked Allen 32nd among the NFL’s 32 head coaches, arguing that while new hires are unknown quantities, we’ve seen enough to know Allen isn’t the right man for the job.

Here’s why Bailey ranked Allen last among his peers:

Dennis Allen is the head coaching version of sitting on a whoopie cushion. The Saints have been dreadfully boring with no sense of direction ever since Sean Payton stepped away. They are 16-18 over their last two seasons and find themselves in quarterback purgatory as Derek Carr is clearly not the future. The Saints’ best option would be to finally blow everything up and begin to rebuild in 2025. It would be three years after they should have done it, but better late than never.

It’s tough to argue with that evaluation. The Saints have given Allen everything he’s asked for — his own play caller and position coaches, his $150 million quarterback, and his own draft picks and free agent signings — and he doesn’t have anything to show for it. Their playoff drought has extended under his watch, and at times visiting fans outnumbered the Who Dat Nation along the sidelines last season.

When Allen was introduced as the team’s head coach, general manager Mickey Loomis talked him up as someone who could field a competitive team. That hasn’t been the case, and Loomis has since moved the goalposts to defend his decision to hire Allen in the first place.

If there’s reason for hope in 2024, it’s that Allen has maintained a consistent defense (even if some cracks are showing on passing downs and in matchups with teams determined to run the football). That should buy them enough time for Klint Kubiak’s offense to get off the ground. Now, whether it takes off for the horizon or crashes back down to Earth is yet to be determined. And that’s going to decide whether or not Allen returns for 2025. At this point we need to see it to believe it.

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Saints pick their quarterback of the future in this 2025 mock draft

Step aside, Derek Carr (and Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler). This 2025 NFL mock draft has the Saints spending a first-round pick on a new quarterback:

Step aside, Derek Carr (plus Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler). This 2025 NFL mock draft has the New Orleans Saints spending a first-round pick on a new quarterback: Miami Hurricanes senior transfer Cameron Ward, formerly of the Washington State Cougars. That’s the choice Draft Wire’s Curt Popejoy made for the Saints, who slotted in at No. 11 using the latest projected standings.

Ward’s name has been connected to the Saints for a few years now. He was linked to New Orleans in a midseason mock draft back in 2022, though he ultimately stayed in school. Wazzu went 5-7 last year, and Ward transferred to Miami in January in hopes of winning a championship. He was effective in both years with the Cougs while making some solid improvements to his game. But the hope is that a stronger supporting cast on the Hurricanes can help Ward reach even greater heights in his senior year.

It wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Saints draft a quarterback in this spot next year. If they’re picking tenth overall, they probably lost enough games in 2024 for general manager Mickey Loomis to finally pull the plug on his Dennis Allen experiment. With Allen going out the door goes Carr’s biggest advocate. Haener and Rattler may have some talent but neither of them is going to keep the Saints’ next coach from drafting a starting quarterback in the first round.

So what becomes of Carr? His 2025 salary cap hit has grown to $51,458,000 including a $30 million base salary and $10 million roster bonus. If Allen is still the coach in 2025 the Saints are likely to restructure Carr’s contract by converting most of his salary and that roster bonus into a new signing bonus; that’s the same move they pulled this year, and it would save them more than $30.9 million while keeping Carr in place as the team’s starter. Carr has a no-trade clause written into his contract, so that’s off the table, but an outright release would nearly break even.

Just looking at the numbers, it suggests Carr will still be starting under center in 2025, and we shouldn’t expect the Saints to draft his replacement (especially if Allen remains their coach). If they end up with the eleventh pick without moving on from Allen or Carr, another position may make more sense than quarterback. But if the Saints have a head coach they claim to believe in and a quarterback he’s determined to start, and they’re still bad enough to be picking at No. 11, then what are we doing here? Maybe drafting Ward to prep him for a reboot with their next coach is the move after all.

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2024 Saints game previews: Week 16 at Green Bay Packers

The Saints have a pivotal road game with the Green Bay Packers in Week 16. It’s a must-win if they want to be part of the playoff picture:

Every game is important, but the stakes get higher in December. And that’s when the New Orleans Saints have a pivotal road game with the Green Bay Packers. They’ll make the trip for what may be a snowy night game at Lambeau Field in Week 16, and it’s a must-win if they want to be part of the playoff picture.

The Saints nearly got it done last season against a Packers team that isn’t looking much different a year later. New Orleans took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter but fell apart once Derek Carr left the game with an injury. Dennis Allen’s defense gave up 18 points and Jameis Winston wasn’t able to put any points on the board after stepping inn for Carr. It was an embarrassing loss, and it ultimately played a part in the Saints failing to qualify for the playoffs.

New Orleans trails Green Bay by a margin of 18-10 in the all-time series history, and they’ve won just once at Green Bay in their last four trips since 2011. The Saints would earn a lot of confidence from fans by avenging last year’s loss with a win on “Monday Night Football.”

So how are the Packers different this time around? They got younger at running back by swapping Josh Jacobs for Aaron Jones in free agency, but their biggest move was signing safety Xavier McKinney to a $68 million contract. They also brought in former Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Andre Dillard for more depth. In the draft, Green Bay added first-round offensive lineman Jordan Morgan plus second-round defenders Edgerrin Cooper (a linebacker from Texas A&M) and Javon Bullard (a safety from Georgia).

All eyes will be on Lambeau field when the Saints and Packers match up in prime time. So be sure to mark your calendar:

  • Game information: New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
  • Location: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wis.
  • Date: Dec. 23
  • Time: 7:15 p.m. CT / 8:15 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN

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Dennis Allen outlines the vision for Spencer Rattler’s rookie year

Saints coach Dennis Allen discussed the vision for Spencer Rattler’s rookie year during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show:

A lot of fans are excited about the New Orleans Saints picking former South Carolina and Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft, but what’s the vision for him? Is Rattler really going to push Derek Carr for the starting job, as some fans and even a few media analysts have stumped for?

That’s a question Saints head coach Dennis Allen addressed during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. Rattler is here to compete just like the other 90 players in the building, but what roster spot he’s competing for is up to him. He’ll have to earn his opportunities just like everyone else.

“I think the plan is, is that he comes in and really, basically competes. And we’ll let the cards kind of play out as they do. I think we were excited about the fact that we got into the fifth round and he was still there. From where we had him graded on our board, we felt like this player was probably more of a second- or third-round talent.”

Allen suggested that the abundance of quarterbacks drafted early on may have pushed Rattler down the board; Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears), Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders), Drake Maye (New England Patriots), Michael Penix Jr. (Atlanta Falcons), J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings), and Bo Nix (Denver Broncos) were all taken in the first dozen picks. At that point, Rattler went into freefall.

He continued: “So the fact he fell all the way to us to the fifth round, we were really excited about that. He’s got tremendous talent. Now it’s about getting him in here, teaching him the things we want him to know and be able to execute the things we want him to execute.”

So it doesn’t sound like Rattler is going to be taking snaps away from Carr on the first-team offense just yet. He has to unseat Jake Haener for the backup job first. And while it’s very early in the offseason, Haener has been outplaying Rattler at practice. The rookie was intercepted twice by the same defender at OTAs last week with media in attendance. He’ll need some time to figure things out.

But as for the future? Allen’s comments suggest the Saints do consider Rattler as a viable starter down the line, if he meets his developmental milestones and harnesses the talent that made them draft him. He’ll need to grow and learn from his mistakes at practice to earn those opportunities like anyone else. Once he shows he’s ready, he’ll get his shot.

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This ‘disappointing’ preseason forecast nailed Derek Carr’s final passing stats

We said this preseason forecast would be disappointing for Derek Carr, but Bleacher Report nailed their predictions for his 2023 passing stats:

Opposing defenses weren’t the only ones who found the New Orleans Saints to be too predictable last year. We described the predictions for Derek Carr’s final stats from Bleacher Report as disappointing, but B/R’s Alex Kay had it down almost perfectly. And as we said at the time, this performance from Carr was a disappointment. We had higher expectations for him.

Still, here’s a hat tip to Kay for getting it right. Here are Kay’s predictions compared to the numbers Carr finished with in 2023 in parentheses:

  • 68% completion percentage (68.4%)
  • 3,901 passing yards (3,878)
  • 25 touchdown passes (25)
  • 13 interceptions (8)
  • 30 carries (32)
  • 118 rushing yards (40)
  • 1 touchdown run (0)

So Kay had Carr’s passing numbers down almost perfectly, though they overestimated how many times he’d turn the ball over. Carr was risk-averse to a fault last year and left some big-play opportunities on the field while being too eager to check down to Alvin Kamara or other receivers underneath coverage. Kay also expected Carr to make more plays with his legs than we actually saw.

But this doesn’t mean Carr can repeat this performance in 2024. It’s encouraging that he finished the season so strong; in his last five starts (where the Saints went 4-1), Carr completed 114 of 154 passes (74%) for 1,117 yards and 14 touchdowns, with just 2 interceptions. Extrapolate those averages over 17 games and you’d be left with 3,798 yards and 47 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. It isn’t realistic to expect 47 touchdown passes (the record in a 17-game season is 43, set by Tom Brady in 2021) or a 74% completion percentage but the yardage lines up with what we’ve seen before.

The point is that Carr needs to improve on those numbers. Extending the red zone efficiency he found late last year would be a big plus. Stepping up to make better throws under pressure between the 20-yard lines and playing like a quarterback his team can lean on would be massive. He averaged the second-fewest passing yards per game in his career last season. That can’t happen again. If he continues to underwhelm in a new offensive system, he might just be who he is. And that would be another disappointment.

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Derek Carr ranked as the 5th-worst starting quarterback in the NFC

PFF ranked Derek Carr as the fifth-worst starting quarterback in the NFC, a year after they listed him fifth-best in the conference:

Yikes. Derek Carr has a lot of work to do in changing his reputation around the NFL — he’s consistently landing in the 20’s with analysts ranking the league’s starting quarterbacks after the 2024 draft. The New Orleans Saints starter didn’t exactly impress many viewers in his first season with the team.

He didn’t impress the Saints, either, which is why they completely overhauled the coaching staff supporting him. Klint Kubiak has replaced Pete Carmichael as offensive coordinator with Andrew Janocko taking over as the quarterbacks coach while other positions were flipped, too. But all of that support doesn’t mean much if Carr doesn’t show improvement. It’s on him to play better.

And he may just be who he is at this stage in his career. That’s the thesis coming from Pro Football Focus analyst Trevor Sikkema, who ranked Carr 21st among the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks. Here’s his explanation:

What you see is what you get from Derek Carr at this point. His PFF passing grade has finished between 77.5 and 83.5 in four of the past five seasons. Now, I want to be clear, he is more good than bad. His turnover-worthy play rate has never been above 3.3% over that span, and his big-time throw percentage has been as high as 6.7%. But it has long felt like Carr leaves too many plays out on the field.

In 2023, Carr passed for 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, but he recorded 17 big-time throws to 14 turnover-worthy plays, a much closer ratio. He remains a frustrating player to watch due to the dichotomy of what he’s capable of versus what he puts on tape.

This put Carr 12th among the 16 quarterbacks in his conference, which isn’t ideal. It’s a steep fall-off after he was ranked higher last offseason. This time last year PFF slotted him at No. 14 overall and fifth-best in the NFC, alongside passers like Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford, Geno Smith, and Jared Goff. That sentiment was shared by other offseason quarterback rankings at The Athletic (No. 14) and ESPN (No. 16), as well as NFL Network’s morning shows. He didn’t meet those expectations. Carr averaged the second-fewest passing yards per game in his career last season, so he isn’t seen as someone who can carry an offense these days.

The Saints are betting everything on Kubiak helping to change that narrative. Putting Carr in a better position to succeed with a more creative offensive scheme isn’t the worst plan. But New Orleans is stuck with Carr whether he improves or doesn’t. Trying a different approach with a new play caller is their best (and only) move.

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