NFL Mock Trade: Saints Send Derek Carr to Old Team for 2 Picks

The Saints could look to send Derek Carr back to the Raiders to end his NFL career...

Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) walks the field before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Saints recently received a shocking update when Derek Carr made it clear that he'd be willing to come out of retirement for the perfect siuation with the perfect team.

Unfortunately for Carr, that won't come with the Saints. The Saints have already moved on from the veteran quarterback, replacing him with rookie signal caller Tyler Shough. Shough showed a lot of promise down the stretch for New Orleans.

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Still, the Saints could trade Carr if there's a situation that makes sense.

Luke Loffrendo of Saints Wire recently put together a mock trade that would send Carr back to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a fourth-round pick and a seventh-round pick. But would it make sense for the Raiders to trade for him?

Would the Raiders make sense as a landing spot for Derek Carr?

Dec 1, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) kneels at the end of the game against the Los Angeles Rams at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

"With several franchises still searching for stability under center, a potential Carr trade has quietly become one of the more intriguing storylines of the offseason," Loffrendo wrote. "Still relatively young at 34, Carr could offer a steady presence for a team that believes it is ready to win now.

"As teams begin to explore the possibility of adding Derek Carr, the Saints also gain an opportunity to evaluate what kind of compensation they could receive in return. Taking into account quarterback need across the league and the available draft capital of interested teams, let’s dive into a few potential trade proposals involving Carr and New Orleans."

The short answer would be, no, this idea doesn't make much sense, but let me expand.

The Raiders need a quarterback more than any team in football, besides the New York Jets. But they have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which they will almost certainly use on Fernando Mendoza. As long as Mendoza can make it to the NFL draft healthy, the Raiders have their quarterback of the future. Trading for Carr wouldn't do them any good.

It would be fun to see Carr end his career with the team that brought him up, but it won't be at quarterback this offseason. Carr could return in a coaching role down the line if he and the team want that, but this trade idea isn't going to work for the Raiders.

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