Brand new Carr - by Jim Gazzolo

After nine seasons as the fall guy with the Raiders, Derek Carr needed a new home.

After two seasons without Drew Brees the Saints needed a new quarterback.

While it is far from a perfect match, the two sides came together in the offseason to give hope to a fan base desperate for a return to the glory days.

Carr signed a 4-year deal worth up to $150 million to be the new QB in New Orleans, leaving almost a decade of woe behind him.

Carr wasn’t a bust with the Raiders, missing just two games because of injury while in Oakland and Las Vegas. He also made the Pro Bowl four times for a team that had much bigger issues than him.

Yet it was Carr who apologized to both Raider fans and officials once he got going in New Orleans.

“They just didn’t get my best and that drove me crazy at the end of the year because I felt so spread out in so many different ways,” Carr told the Associated Press recently. “I just didn’t feel like myself and I feel bad for the (Raiders) coaches and players.”

Now the new Saint gunslinger is promising to be better and to have learned from his past mistakes as he starts a new chapter in his career.

“It’s going to be a great lesson for me to learn to help some guys down the road when they go through a coaching change or a shift in whatever they’re doing,” Carr said.

Suddenly Carr is a changed man if you listen to reports from Saints’ minicamps. He has become a true leader as the franchise looks for a turnaround.

The Saints are betting on it even.

For there is no question that when it comes to this upcoming season, Carr holds the key to any and all success. There are pieces around him, but you don’t proclaim the new QB as your guy and then back off that.

The Saints are all in on Carr.

“Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and when you have a highly skilled player, a highly intelligent player, a guy that works the way Derek does, a guy that has the type of leadership qualities that Derek has, that’s going to filter throughout the whole football team, players and coaches,” Saints head coach Dennis Allen told NOLA.com. “I think that gives you a lot of confidence going into the season.”

There is no question that the NFC South is up for grabs. Tom Brady has retired from Tampa Bay, the Falcons and Panthers are both rebuilding behind new quarterbacks and only New Orleans has an experienced guy to count on behind center.

That gives hope to Saints fans all over the place.

And Carr had a nice minicamp himself, proving he may just be the right guy the Saints were looking for to get them back into title contention.

If nothing else, Carr has brought hope back to the franchise and that alone made his signing worth the money.

As long as Carr himself plays to his capabilities.

 

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports for CBS-Lake Charles