After never having been a free agent before, Derek Carr dove headfirst into the process by asking plenty of questions and keeping an open mind. He wanted to be very certain before making a choice.
Carr’s attraction to the Big Easy grew too great and he had to go there. The four-time Pro Bowl selection finally told his agency he wants to play for the Saints.
When asked about the public’s reaction to his appointment, Carr stated, “They made it quite obvious how they felt” at his inaugural press conference on Saturday. You may trust them because they told the truth. The truth about the group was revealed to us by these people. They weren’t dishonest about trying to make things sound like they weren’t what they were. Its up front candor is what really struck me as special.
In a social media post last week, Carr revealed his choice to sign a four-year, $150 million contract.
Before the Raiders released Carr, the Saints discussed a trade for him with Las Vegas, but Carr refused to waive his no-trade clause until he had spoken to all potential suitors. Carr was impressed by the Saints’ aggressiveness, even though the deal never happened.
“It’s great to be wanted,” he said. It’s an honor when a team, a city, or a locker room recognizes the potential benefits of having you on board.
Moreover, New Orleans’ head coach Dennis Allen was the Raiders’ head coach when they drafted Carr in 2014. The 31-year-old played nine seasons with the Raiders, starting 142 of a possible 146 games and guiding the team to the postseason twice. In 15 games that year, he passed for 3,522 yards and 24 scores.
After being benched for the team’s final two games of the previous season, his departure from Las Vegas was acrimonious. At a January speech at ChurchLV, Carr said that many individuals in his immediate vicinity sought to place blame for the situation. Actually, he came up with something else.
“Instead, I prayed, “Lord, what is it that You are attempting to reveal to me in this season? “Lord, what are You attempting to accomplish in my heart during this time?” he prayed. “Patience? Forgiveness? Ask yourself: do they merit it? The outcome is irrelevant. He didn’t even bother to ask if they were due it. Honestly, I didn’t plan on doing that. My only goal was to forgive. To me, the most pressing issue was to just “enjoy peace.”
“I’m not going to sit up here and toss Bibles at everybody, but I do have faith and I do believe,” he stated Saturday. That’s the foundation of our marriage and the way we bring up our kids. Why I love my wife is because she has taught me how to love.
Carr plans to serve the community he now represents while also working to get the Saints back into the playoffs after a 16-18 record over the past two years. To learn more about the Saints and New Orleans, he spoke with Drew Brees, a Saints great from the past, and the Manning family.
Carr, when asked about his involvement in the community, said that he just wants to love people well.
His congregation “just tries to constantly be open to that” and “what the Lord is saying to us” about how to “assist that community and simply love the folks of New Orleans,” he said. A person’s faith is my top priority. No matter what happens, it will always be the case. Finally, after my family and the football team comes. All three of them are very dear to my heart.
