Why did Derek Carr turn down Jets switch?

The 2023 NFL season could have been very different had a high profile move gone through in free agency. Quarterback Derek Carr revealed on the Pardon My Take podcast that he was wanted by the New York Jets before the franchise completed a trade with the Green Bay Packers for Aaron Rodgers.

Carr recalls meeting with the Jets

“I could have signed with them, it just wasn’t the right time for me. There were still four or five teams that I had to hear from,” Carr said when asked about free agency. “I remember going there and I was like, I promise myself I had to go through the process. Because I didn’t want to sign and then think, well what did that team think? Or what could they do? That was hard. It was a weird situation but at the same time, trading for Aaron wasn’t a guarantee - for them, at that time. .”

Difficult situation with Aaron Rodgers in the mix

Carr explained on the Barstool Sports program that there was a world of difference between him and Rodgers in multiple aspects. From salary aspirations to the number of MVP awards won.

“The thing that was different in that situation was like, Aaron is a nine billion-time MVP and all that kinda stuff. But you still have to trade for him... whereas I am free, you know, and they could still keep those picks,” Carr explained. “I was not asking for as much money - as whatever they say your market is. Wherever I go, I just want to win. So use the money, I don’t care.

Carr ended up signing a four-year contract with the New Orleans Saints for $150 million, but if he had accepted the deal with the Jets, maybe Rodgers wouldn't have suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon . The former Packers player came to the Jets in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a sixth-round pick.

The importance of Robert Saleh

One of the reasons Carr would have signed with the Jets was to play for Robert Saleh, whom he feels is one of the best coaches in the league. Even his brother, David, assured him that even if he liked New Orleans, he would sign with the Jets just to be coached by Saleh.

“So that situation... I remember sitting there with Saleh and was like, ‘Look man, we’d love to have you. It’s up to you’. I was like, ‘I’d love to make that decision right now’ because Robert Saleh, I am probably his biggest fan. I absolutely 10 out of 10 love him, I’d run through a wall for him, even if he’s not my coach. That whole situation, that was hardest thing,” he explained.

“My brother knew coach Saleh and he was like, he knew I loved New Orleans but he was like, ‘You’re going to see Saleh, you’re probably gonna stay’. He was thinking I was going to sign because of Saleh”.