When Dennis Allen boarded the flight home from London nearly 8 1/2 years ago, the then-Raiders coach had 11 hours to think about his future. Upon landing in Oakland, he was fired thanks to an embarrassing loss to the Dolphins that day, an 0-4 start to the season and an 8-28 record in his first head-coaching gig.
Allen, then 42, surely thought he would get another head-coaching shot, his confidence and contacts around the league being what they were. But he never could have imagined that he would be turning to then-rookie quarterback Derek Carr again down the road.
But here we are. Allen has a veteran Saints team that needs to improve on last season’s 7-10 record and Carr has been looking for a new home after nine grinding years with the now-Las Vegas Raiders. The two sides reached agreement Monday morning on a four-year deal, per league sources, with Carr getting $150 million over four years — with $60 million guaranteed at signing and another $10 million guaranteed that will vest after the first year of the deal.
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Saints, Derek Carr agree to terms
Carr, who was released by the Raiders last month, wanted a new contract done before free agency starts next week. And that didn’t jibe with the Jets, who have been waiting for Aaron Rodgers to come out of the darkness and shine some light on his future with the Packers. Carr, 31, was clearly the Jets’ backup choice and not even leaks saying the Jets thought he could be a Hall of Famer for them could change that.
The Saints desperately needed an upgrade from Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston, and Carr was always their best option. They don’t have much salary-cap space and they don’t draft until No. 29, far too low to entertain thoughts of trading up for any of the top four quarterbacks. The Saints met with the Raiders’ all-time passing leader in January, when the Raiders held out hope of trading Carr rather than cutting him to save $40.1 million, but Carr wanted to test the market. And he met with the Jets, Panthers and Saints again at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week.
Carr’s addition immediately makes the Saints the favorites in a weak NFC South division that currently features Kyle Trask, Sam Darnold and Desmond Ridder as the other top quarterbacks.
While Carr didn’t click this past season with first-year Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, he still has an above-average arm and smarts. Carr may have wanted to prove that he could handle the tough weather and media market in New York — he was really bad in seven career cold-weather games with the Raiders, including his finale last Christmas Eve in Pittsburgh — but he won’t have to do that in New Orleans as he joins forces with his first NFL head coach.
Carr gets some prime offensive weapons to work with in running back Alvin Kamara and receiver Chris Olave — something Carr saw firsthand in the Raiders’ 24-0 loss to the Saints last October. Carr is at his best when he has confidence in his offensive line, and that was hit and miss during his tenure with the Raiders. One of the complaints the new Raiders regime had was his lack of toughness, though Carr did cut back on his fumbles last season. He had a career-low four and didn’t lose a fumble for the first time in his nine seasons.
Carr had six coaches during his nine years with the Raiders during which the franchise routinely wasted draft picks and free-agent money and his defense was the worst in the NFL statistically over that span. Even Carr’s harshest critics — and there were a lot of them in Oakland and Las Vegas who blamed him for the lack of a playoff win — have to concede that point: Could Carr have played better? Yes. Did he have a lot of help? No.
Carr was trending up in his third season under coach Jon Gruden and offensive coordinator Greg Olson, and the Raiders got off to a 3-0 start. Two weeks later, Gruden resigned after the publication of racist, misogynistic and homophobic emails he sent between 2011 and 2018.
The Raiders still made the playoffs that season under interim coach Rich Bisaccia, but owner Mark Davis did not retain Bisaccia. He opted instead for the former Patriots duo of Dave Ziegler as general manager and McDaniels as head coach. That duo gave Carr a three-year extension — with the ability to opt out after one year — to see how Carr would do with a high-powered offense featuring Davante Adams, Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow and Josh Jacobs. Of those five, only Adams and Jacobs played well (Waller and Renfrow were limited by injury to nine and 10 games, respectively) and the Raiders finished 6-11. Ziegler took the out, benching Carr for the last two games to avoid injury and risking $40.1 million of Davis’ money.
Carr has long wanted some consistency, and he has a chance to get some in New Orleans if he can step in, play well and help Allen keep his job.
The two weren’t particularly close in Oakland, but then again Carr was only a rookie on a really bad team full of aging veterans that went on to lose its first 10 games.
Allen has often said over the years that he never had a chance to win in Oakland with the really bad roster, and maybe that explains his desperation in 2014. The Raiders had acquired Matt Schaub to be a stopgap quarterback until second-round pick Carr was ready, but Schaub had a poor preseason, Carr caught fire in the final preseason game and Allen flipped the switch before the opener. The veterans didn’t really like the move, Carr had a hard time picking up blitzes (something he is very good at now) and the Raiders scored 51 points in four games before Allen was fired.
Now, almost nine years later, Allen is turning to Carr to save him again.
(Top photo of Derek Carr and Dennis Allen: Stephen Lew / USA Today)
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