A Leader Has Emerged in the Derek Carr Sweepstakes

With the official start of free agency around the corner, things are about to get chaotic in a hurry on the quarterback market with Derek Carr likely being the first domino to fall.

After meeting with the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and New York Jets, Carr has a "slight lean" toward the Jets, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. In a one-on-one interview with Charlotte Sports Live, Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said that Derek Carr knows the team would like to draft a quarterback but that they also view him as a good option.

He also mentioned at the NFL Combine last week that drafting a QB is typically a better way to go.

"In an ideal world, you always want to draft a quarterback. Draft, develop, and then have that guy here for five, ten years. You want to have that consistency. It helps for many different reasons. Continuity on your roster. For salary cap reasons. There's so many benefits to drafting and developing. That is the right route to go. We'll see if we can get in a position where we can get one of the guys we like. Is there a guy there in the second round? Can we get up in the first round? Those are all the things we're exploring right now."

Currently, the Panthers are $2.2 million over the salary cap, per OverTheCap. Fitterer will be restructuring some contracts and making some tough cut decisions this offseason to clear up cap space in order to make moves in free agency, but will have to do more of that if they plan to sign Carr, who could be worth north of $35M per year.

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