If the New Orleans Saints fail to land soon-to-be free agent quarterback Derek Carr, the front office could look at adding a former No. 1 overall selection as a backup plan.
Carr recently visited the Saints, but the 31-year-old has informed the Las Vegas Raiders that he won’t waive his no-trade clause. This means the Raiders will have to release the four-time Pro Bowler to free agency, and then the Saints will have to win a bidding war for his services.
Should the Saints miss out on Carr? According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, former Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield could be their fallback option:
“Another quarterback to watch in free agency for New Orleans would be Baker Mayfield. The Saints staff was high on Mayfield ahead of the 2018 draft, and those old draft evals can definitely have an impact down the road with guys as they get older and hit free agency, especially when there’s a need that can be tied to it.”
Mayfield’s up-and-town tenure with the Browns ended last year after the organization traded for Deshaun Watson. The Browns subsequently traded him to the QB-needy Panthers for a conditional 2024 draft pick.
But Mayfield struggled mightily with his new team, and he was released after losing five of his six starts. He was picked up by the defending champion Rams, who lost Matthew Stafford late in the year with a spinal cord contusion.
Mayfield showed slight improvement with the Rams, completing 63.6 percent of pass attempts for four touchdowns and two interceptions.
