Getty Former Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr throwing a pass during an NFL game.
The first domino has fallen in the QB sweepstakes of the 2023 offseason.
Dianna Russini of ESPN shared on Monday, March 6 that the New Orleans Saints are signing veteran passer Derek Carr.
Derek Carr is signing with the New Orleans Saints, per sources.
Shortly after that news became public, New York Jets veteran defensive back Will Parks took to Twitter and seemingly took a shot at Carr for his choice in free agency.
“So he don’t wanna play in the cold with the No. 1 defense in America?”
So he don’t wanna play in the cold with the #1 defense in America?
Jets Chose to Wait Instead of Taking Derek Carr Now
Instead of staying in the AFC conference, Carr has chosen to jump to the NFC and head south.
Parks took issue with that and insinuated that Carr chose the Saints over the Jets.
However, Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic believes the real issue was priorities. From the get-go, New Orleans made it clear that Carr was their top choice. The Jets “made it clear he wasn’t.”
The Saints made it clear Derek Carr was their No. 1 target.
The Jets made it clear he wasn’t.
So this happened.
Rich Cimini of ESPN suggested that Carr got “tired of waiting” for the Aaron Rodgers shoe to drop. Which has been reported by many as the “1A option” for Gang Green this offseason.
The Jets liked Carr but loved Rodgers. Gang Green could have signed the veteran to a deal immediately but they were willing to wait for the chance to snag Rodgers.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Saints made a “final pitch” and Carr slept on it and decided to make a move.
Pressure Is Now on the Jets to Land a QB1 or Else
With Carr off the table as an option, the heat has turned up significantly on the Jets’ decision-makers to land a brand-new quarterback.
The 31-year-old would’ve been a significant upgrade over what the Jets had last year and quite frankly over the last couple of years. Although that isn’t really saying much considering the quarterback play or lack thereof over the last 12 years or so.
It is clear that the Jets are swinging for the fences this offseason at the game’s most important position.
After the display of Mike White who couldn’t stay healthy and Zach Wilson who couldn’t deliver consistently last year, the Jets are ready to make a significant investment at QB.
The current temperature is an Aaron Rodgers or bust headline as Cimini put it on Twitter for Gang Green.
The problem with that strategy is all the complicated variables involved.
Rodgers is under contract with the Packers. For the Jets to acquire him they’d have to agree to trade compensation. Also, there is the matter of his contract which would also have to be reworked.
For that to be your top choice, considering all of the wild factors just makes things a tad crazy. It’ll be difficult to check all of those things off the list to make happen, but if the Jets can they could be in a power position with a top-flight quarterback being dropped on this roster.
With the Carr domino dropping, the rest of the quarterback decisions should be coming sooner rather than later.