he New York Jets are going to have a new starting quarterback in 2025.
ESPN’s Seth Walder predicted that QB will be New Orleans Saints veteran Derek Carr.
“In this scenario, the Jets pick Carr up off the Saints’ discard pile. It’s hard to know what the new Jets regime will be looking for after moving on from Aaron Rodgers, but new coach Aaron Glenn saw the Lions win with an unwanted Jared Goff. Carr doesn’t have Goff’s upside, but he would raise the Jets’ floor. And as poorly as recent seasons have gone, New York has pieces to launch a quicker turnaround than one might think,” Walder explained.
Darren Mougey, Jets
Carr, 33, has two years left on the $150 million contract he signed with the Saints in free agency. Matt Okada of the NFL Media Group highlighted Carr as a top potential cut candidate for the Saints.
Jets Have a Chance to Hop in the QB Time Machine
During the 2023 offseason, the Jets were desperately searching for a veteran quarterback. Two passers the Jets courted were Carr, a free agent, and Rodgers in a potential trade with the Green Bay Packers.
Carr met with the Jets after he was released by the Las Vegas Raiders and NFL Insider Dianna Russini said it went “really well.”
Darren Mougey, Jets
“[The Jets] made it super personal too, they said ‘We believe if you come to New York and win, you could be a first ballot Hall of Famer’,” Russini revealed on “NFL Live.”
Derek Carr’s visit with the Jets on Monday went ‘really well’ 👀🗽
“[The Jets] made it super personal too, they said ‘We believe if you come to New York and win, you could be a first ballot Hall of Famer.’” — @diannaESPN pic.twitter.com/eyBpLR8HRB
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) February 21, 2023
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Despite the Jets’ heavy recruiting efforts to lure Carr to New York ultimately the team skipped out on the Carr experience and went all in on Rodgers. That experiment failed miserably.
Darren Mougey, Jets
Now two years later the Jets can do a discount double-check on that decision by going with Carr for 2025.
Carr Could Prove to Be a Steadying Presence for the Jets at QB
Throughout his 11 seasons in the NFL, Carr has been incredibly durable. He has appeared and started in 169 games during his career.
It should be noted, that Carr missed seven games in 2024 due to a variety of injury issues but prior to that, he had appeared in at least 15 games in 10 straight seasons.
In his career, he has completed 65.1% of his passes, has thrown for 41,245 passing yards, and has a 257 touchdown to a 112 interception ratio.
Darren Mougey, Jets
Carr is a four-time Pro Bowler who provides a nice floor at the quarterback position. That would be a refreshing reality for the Jets if they went in that direction based on what they have had at the position over the last several years.
From 2020 through 2023, the Jets did not have a quarterback who threw for more than 9 touchdown passes in a season. Carr has thrown 19+ passing touchdowns in 10 of his 11 seasons in the league.
