There are a lot of reasons it made sense for Derek Carr to join the New Orleans Saints, but there's one that might have flown under the radar.
Just look at the murderer's row of QBs he'll be escaping as he goes to the NFC, former NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme explained this week on SportsTalk. And that picture will only become clearer if and when Aaron Rodgers is dealt to the Jets.
"I can’t understand why Aaron Rodgers would want to leave [Green Bay], and I think that was very smart on Derek Carr’s part," Delhomme told Mike Detillier and Charlie Long. "Let me get out of this division that I’m in, what am I doing? If I can get to the NFC, you’ve got a big chance with a decent roster, and that’s what the Saints have.”
Listen to the full interview with Jake Delhomme in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
It's a fair point, considering Carr is departing a division where he had to face QBs named Pat Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Russell Wilson twice a season for an NFC South that appears set to feature starting quarterbacks named Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask, Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke, and Andy Dalton or the Panthers top pick, most likely CJ Stroud or Bryce Young.
And realistically speaking, the QB picture doesn't get much stiffer across the NFC as a whole. Jalen Hurts is the No. 1 QB, Delhomme said, followed by Dak Prescott. After that? It might just be Carr.
"Carr has got to be toward the top if you take his past resume and if there is a healthy Michael Thomas to go along with [Chris] Olave, who is one of the smoothest receivers that you’ll ever see run a route," Carr continued. "And then the young kid who came on at the end of the year, Rashid Shaheed. The Panthers played the Saints the final week of the season and I’m watching film like ‘who is this young kid? Where did he come from?’ ... So, you know, Derek should be up there at the top of the NFC quarterbacks. It certainly seems like there’s a large gap between the NFC and AFC, there’s no doubt.”
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