Saints: The Derek Carr era officially begins
Derek Carr gets introduced as the Saints new quarterback.
It's official.
Four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr signed his contract to be the new quarterback of the New Orleans Saints on Saturday.
Carr had his share of suitors, specifically, the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers tried to get him to join their organizations. As he should have, Carr went through the process thoroughly before deciding on the Saints.
At the beginning of Carr's introductory press conference, Saints head coach Dennis Allen provided some humor to break the ice.
"I want everyone to know that Derek is a much quicker decision-maker on the field than he is off the field," said Allen.
Good one, Allen.
Once things got rolling and Carr began speaking, he was quick to point out why, and who got him to come to New Orleans to start the next phase of his career.
"This really is a dream come true moment for me," Carr said. "The warmth and the love that I felt from the city of New Orleans, Mrs. Benson, Mickey, D-A, the whole organization, the whole city has been unbelievable."
Benson is the owner of the Saints and Mickey Loomis is the team's general manager.
When it got reported that Carr was joining the Saints, wide receiver Michael Thomas, who is currently having progressive talks with the team about a contract extension, let it be known he was pleased with the addition.
Carr ended up getting on the phone and talking with Thomas, and he revealed some details about it during Saturday's press conference.
"The first time I talked to him on the phone, I don't think he wanted me to get off the phone, I really enjoyed talking to him, "Carr said while laughing. "I told Mickey, I was like, you talk to Mike Thomas and you feel like you two can go out and face the world.
"I told my wife when I got off the phone, and she was like 'Why are you smiling?' And I was like, I love this guy."
No matter how good any player is as an individual, football is the ultimate team game, and all parts of a team need to work together like a well-oiled machine.
Carr spoke about what his purpose was for being in New Orleans, and it exemplified what being a team player is all about.
"But I'm here to do this with Cam, with Demario, with Tyrann, with Taysom, with Alvin, you know, with Mike, you know, we're, if we want to go far, we gotta go together and it's not just because Derek shows up, you know, that we're going to do something special," Carr said.
"It's because we all decided as a collective unit to go in one direction and do it the same way. And that starts in OTAs, that starts in April, you know, getting everybody here and getting to work if we really want to do what we want to do."
Carr and the rest of the Saints surely have some work to do to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2020. However, it looks like the foundation is in place to do just that.
