Derek Carr may have moved to "The Big Easy" last year but his transition from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New Orleans Saints was anything but. Carr was drafted by the Raiders back in 2014 and spent nine years as the team's starting quarterback.
He maintained for a long time that he had no aspirations of playing anywhere else and went so far as to say he would consider retirement before joining another team. Well, that commitment was put to the test last year when the Raiders decided to cut him. Instead of retiring, Carr decided to sign with the Saints.
The quarterback recently admitted that moving to New Orleans and playing for the Saints was a harder transition than he had anticipated.
"It was really hard because of the relationship I had with Mark and the team, the organization - I thought I was going to be there forever," Carr said on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast. "It didn't work out that way, obviously, but when I went to put a new jersey on, I was like, 'my pants aren't silver anymore.' It looked weird. It didn't feel right. ... It took me a little longer than I thought to get acclimated, if I'm honest."
It's understandable why it would be difficult for Carr to make the change. Nine years is a long time to be with one team and things ended pretty unceremoniously. Carr said that he feels at home now and perhaps that could lead to more consistent play from the quarterback in 2024.
The Raiders have also had a hard time transitioning from Carr. The Jimmy Garoppolo experiment was a disaster and now the team doesn't have a set starting quarterback as Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell compete for the job. Carr plays his first game against the Raiders this season and that should be a strong indicator of whether or not the team made the right decision.