Before the Raiders officially released Derek Carr last month, they were trying to trade him to get some measure of compensation for the quarterback.
But a trade always seemed unlikely given that Carr had a no-trade clause and realistically had no incentive to help Las Vegas after the organization had decided to move on from him.
The Raiders also never gave Carr and his representation permission to seek a trade. Carr was only allowed to meet with the Saints after New Orleans and Las Vegas had agreed to the framework of a deal.
During his introductory press conference on Saturday, Carr said that only being able to speak with one other organization was more of an issue than anything else.
“I was very willing to accept a trade,” Carr said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “But I was only able to talk to one team. I was only given permission to talk to one team. As much as I love and respect those guys, Dave and Josh over at the Raiders, how do I make that decision when it’s the only time in my career that I’ve been, or could possibly be free? I can’t possibly make that decision without being able to talk to other people. But I still almost made the decision. I felt so much love here. Like, I still almost did it.
“But at the end of the day, I just felt like I knew that when I sat here, I wanted to be able to look my kids in the eye, look my wife in the eye, and know that I did everything in my power, I asked every question, I went through every process to make sure I tried to make the best decision for our family, for us together. So, I wasn’t closed off to it all, which was maybe shocking to some people. But I wasn’t closed off, I was willing to work, but I just was only able to talk to the Saints. But it worked out.”
The fact that the Saints were aggressive and were willing to trade for Carr meant something to him and was a factor in why he ended up signing with the club. Head coach Dennis Allen made it clear that Carr was the team’s No. 1 target at quarterback and now the two sides will try to win a championship.