What are the New Orleans Saints Doing?

Yesterday, it was reported that Derek Carr was signing with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints were in competition with the Jets and Panthers, but Carr ultimately decided to take his talents to “The Big Easy”. I am not a fan of this move for either party, especially for New Orleans. 

What are they hoping to accomplish by signing Derek Carr to a 4-year deal? The best- and worst-case scenarios would probably be 11-6 and 7-10, with maybe one playoff win in the former. What does that do for them in the long run? The Saints will still be in salary cap hell with an aging defense taking up the majority of their payroll. Taysom Hill will continue to rob them blind by getting almost SEVEN million dollars a year. The only difference between the previous season and next will be a B+ quarterback trying to take them above .500.

Since Drew Brees left after the 2020 season, this franchise has made one mistake after the other. Let’s take a look at some of their most recent moves. 

Now let’s add those trades up and see what New Orleans received in total.

For some reason, Mickey Loomis absolutely hates third round picks. In just these five moves he traded away 5 third round picks and only received one back. He has been mortgaging the future the last two years and is now taking out a second mortgage on an already underwater property by signing Derek Carr. Unbelievable. 

I gave a couple best-case, worst-case scenarios earlier, but I want to circle back and take a deeper look. Last season, the Saints’ offensive line was atrocious. PFF ranked their pass and run block units as both being 26th best in the league. Their very explosive weapons, Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave, were the only reason they were able to ever put points on the board. The Saints defense, supposedly one of the best in the league, was also shown to be much weaker than people expected. Yes, they were 9th in opponent’s points per game, but they were 30th in turnover rate, 24th in third down conversion percentage and 20th in rushing yards per attempt. Now they’re losing Marcus Davenport and David Onyemata and Cameron Jordan will be 34 before next season. The lone bright spot was the passing defense. PFF graded their secondary at 12 best in the league. The overall defense was worse than people think, and we all know how well Carr does without a good defense. 11-6 would be an absolute miracle. 8-9 or 9-8, with a small shot at 10-7 is much more realistic.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but Derek Carr and a draft pick or two are not going to solve all of these holes. The defense is getting old and losing key players. The offense can be dangerous, but Alvin Kamara hasn’t played a full season his entire career and has pending legal issues looming. Derek Carr is obviously better than Andy Dalton and will provide this team with two or so more wins next season, but I fail to see how that will have made this signing worth it. They’re just prolonging the inevitable. At the end of the 2024-2025 season, New Orleans will no longer have Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas (losing him won’t hurt), Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis, Tyrann Mathieu and the fans will be calling for Derek Carr’s head after a 7-10 season. I can’t stress enough how little sense this move makes and I can’t wait to watch it blow up in everyone’s face.