By Ross Jackson
With the Nov. 5 trade deadline on the way, many rumors and considerations will begin to populate. We already saw a bogus report on an alleged trade request by New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara fall flat once he received his two-year contract extension.
However, as the deadline nears, more founded proposals will be discussed and tossed about. One, which is sure to be hotly contested, came from a back-and-forth between ESPN NFL Insider Dan Graziano and ESPN NFL Writer Jeremy Fowler. The two briefly discussed a potential surprise trade that would ship starting quarterback Derek Carr out of New Orleans and to another quarterback-needy team.
The consideration comes on the back of a five-game losing streak, though there’s no real indication that the team has any intent on moving on the quarterback they fervently pursued just two offseasons ago.
“Would New Orleans’ Derek Carr qualify as a surprise?” Graziano asks. “He has a fully guaranteed $10 million roster bonus next season, and the rest of his $30 million 2025 salary becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the league year in March. He also has a no-trade clause, which gives him the same level of control over the situation that he had when the Raiders decided to move on from him.”
Carr would qualify as a surprise indeed. The Saints’ recent extension of Kamara indicates that they don’t have much intent, at this time, of selling off pieces. The Saints have a perpetual contender mentality, even when it doesn’t make sense. They are an organization that always believes they can win. So, a trade that sent their starting quarterback packing would certainly be a surprise.
But one has to consider the case in which the Saints do not improve. A loss this weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers inches them one step closer to being out of the postseason conversation. However, if the unforeseeable happens, a loss at the Carolina Panthers ahead of the trade deadline, that could change everything. A seven-game losing streak is hard to shake.
The Saints and Carr have a strong relationship. But if the ship begins to sink, could the Saints look to get Carr to a better situation? What if a tailspin triggers an unexpected changing of the guard at head coach? As Graziano expresses, there’s no indication of this move at this time.
“This of course assumes the Saints would even want to move on from Carr, which I must emphasize I do not know.” he stated. “But they’ve lost five in a row after a 2-0 start, have major age and salary cap issues on their roster moving forward and could potentially be resetting with a new coaching staff if things don’t turn around.”
