The Atlanta Falcons had an argument as having the best quarterback situation in the NFC South before the Monday news of Derek Carr signing with the New Orleans Saints. Carr becomes the best quarterback in the division while the Saints are clearly still the third or fourth-best roster in the division.
Signing Carr further hurts the Saints’ long-term for a team that still has a lot of work to do when it comes to clearing cap space. At some point, the Saints are going to be forced to completely rebuild and the further the team puts it off the longer the period of mediocrity will be and the more painful the rebuild will be.
Putting Carr on the Saints moves the needle slightly but not enough to consider the Saints contenders. Both the Panthers and Falcons have younger rosters with better pieces to build around and a longer window to contend. The reasons are clear even with Carr now on the roster the Falcons should have very little concern for a team that should be competing for the bottom of the NFC South.
1. Dennis Allen is Derek Carr’s head coach
It is if one great game against Tom Brady as the head coach and one season of mediocrity is allowing everyone to forget what a terrible head coach Allen has been throughout his career. Allen has a career record of 15-38 in four seasons as a head coach.
In comparison to Arthur Smith who has gone 14-20 in two seasons while rebuilding. Allen isn’t a great head coach and is attempting to follow Sean Payton who haunted Atlanta for far too many seasons. Allen doesn’t deserve the same level of respect and isn’t going to be a challenge for Smith to outcoach if the Falcons build the roster they are capable of putting together this off-season.
Allen is a great coordinator but clearly isn’t a good head coach and won’t be a better option for Carr. The head coach was given the chance based on what he did as a coordinator and having worked with Sean Payton. A head coach who was smart enough to see what was about to happen in New Orleans and jumped ship for Denver.
2. Derek Carr isn’t a proven winner
Derek Carr has consistently put up solid numbers in his career but what is your favorite Derek Carr moment? For a quarterback who has been in the league a long time it is hard to think of one great moment for the veteran. This is largely because the veteran quarterback doesn’t often play in or win big games. This can be blamed on the defense and complete dysfunction that has often been around Derek throughout his career.
However, Carr deserves a measure of blame as well and it is hard to know what to expect from the quarterback if New Orleans somehow does make it to the playoffs. Carr is 63-79 in his career and has a 0-1 playoff record. This is the exact same record as current New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston and Carr has fewer playoff appearances than Andy Dalton who is winless in the playoffs as well.
Quarterback wins are a tricky stat to judge but the fact that Carr has only one playoff game in nine years and failed to make it to twenty points speaks for itself.
3. Carr was benched with the Raiders with far better weapons
There is a reason that the Raiders were an early favorite landing spot for Tom Brady before the veteran quarterback retired. It was the team’s elite options at receiver and tight end and consistent run game if Josh Jacobs is retained.
Derek had all of these weapons and still was benched fairly or not the veteran was unable to keep the starting job with clearly better options around him than New Orleans has. Chris Olave is a great receiver but after the young target what can the Saints count on?
Alvin is clearly aging and could be facing a suspension this off-season while Michael Thomas seems to be a likely cap casualty. The Saints aren’t improving on offense and lack the cap space to add anything close to the weapons Carr had with the Raiders. Derek downgraded his weapons while attempting to learn a new offensive system with an aging team that clearly is heading in the wrong direction. Why the Saints made the move is obvious but choosing New Orleans is a decision that will hurt Derek Carr’s career and end his chance at serious contention.