Derek Carr has been a member of the New Orleans Saints for more than a full calendar year now, but recently revealed he could have altered the quarterback landscape if he'd taken another team's pitch more seriously.
Carr said he met and considered signing with the New York Jets during the 2023 offseason.
"I could've [signed with New York]," Carr said during an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, via gulflive.com. "It just wasn't the right time for me. There was still like four or five teams I had to hear from.
"I remember sitting there with (Jets coach Robert Saleh) and he's like, 'Look, man, we'd love to have you. It's up to you.'"
Carr had already visited with the Saints before he took a trip to Florham Park, New Jersey, to meet with Saleh and Jets leadership, and he ultimately chose Dennis Allen's squad in New Orleans.
New York, of course, eventually acquired Aaron Rodgers via trade more than a month later.
If kicking the tires on Carr was nothing more than due diligence, Carr made the right choice. But Jets fans might be wondering how the 2023 season could have gone had they signed Carr instead of acquiring Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon just four plays into the season, sending New York back to a bad place under center.
All of that is in the past now, though, with Rodgers healed and ready to go. Carr, meanwhile, enters Year 2 of the four-year, $150 million deal he signed with the Saints. After struggling through the 2023 season with an uninspired offensive attack, he'll embark on his second campaign with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak calling the shots.
We'll never know what Carr's New York experience might have been like. Jets fans are hoping they won't have to spend another minute pondering it, even if it is intriguing as we approach August.