Raiders grant Saints permission to talk with Derek Carr

NEW ORLEANS — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has been granted permission to visit the New Orleans Saints, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The visit will take place Wednesday at the Saints facility in Metairie, Louisiana, according to sources.

It would be Carr’s first known visit prior to the Raiders’ Feb. 15 release date on his contract, up to which $40.4 million of his salary is guaranteed ($32.9 million in 2023 and $7.5 million dollars for 2024). The situation requires either the Raiders or the new team to make those guarantees, meaning that if no trading partner shows up by that time, the Raiders would likely release him.

If the Raiders cut Carr, they’ll take a $5.6 million salary cap hit but free up $29.3 million in cap space. If they traded him, the same thing would happen, but they would get draft picks back in return.

The Saints have the 29th pick in the 2023 draft as part of compensation for ex-coach Sean Payton’s move to the Denver Broncos. They also have the 40th pick and the 71st pick on Day 2.

The Saints are estimated to be at least $55 million over their expected 2023 salary cap of $224.8 million and would need to restructure a number of contracts to not only stay within the cap, but also within Carr’s $34.8 million salary cap -dollars to fit for 2023. His contract would also likely be restructured to lower his 2023 cap.

Carr’s upcoming meeting was first reported by the NFL Network and NewOrleans.Football.

The Saints already know the quarterback. Saints coach Dennis Allen, who coached the Raiders from 2012-14, selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft. Allen, who was fired for four games during the 2014 season, also chose to start Carr immediately as a rookie.

Carr has a no-trade clause in his contract and can veto any objective.

Carr spent nine seasons with the Raiders with a 63-79 record and helped lead them to the playoffs in 2016 and 2021, but he missed the team’s 2016 postseason competition with an injury.

Carr was benched for the final two games of the 2022 season in what is described as a mutual decision. He resigned from the team to avoid distracting amid the possibility of his departure in the offseason.

The Saints spent the 2021 and 2022 offseasons looking for a quarterback after Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season. The Saints attempted to go after Deshaun Watson last spring, and team owner Gayle Benson flew to Atlanta to meet with the quarterback, who was still a member of the Houston Texans at the time. Watson was eventually traded to the Cleveland Browns and given a fully guaranteed contract after agreeing to waive his no-trade clause.

The Saints, who started four different quarterbacks in 2020, re-signed Jameis Winston after failing to get Watson and also signed Andy Dalton as a backup. Dalton became the starter after Winston was injured earlier in the season, and Allen chose to stay with Dalton for the rest of the year.

Dalton is a pending free agent, and Winston has one year left on the two-year contract he signed last spring.

“Our process really doesn’t change,” Saints assistant general manager Jeff Ireland said at the Senior Bowl last week. “When we had Drew, you kind of knew you were in pretty good hands in that regard. We’ve got a free-agent quarterback under contract, a practice squad quarterback, so we’re taking it a little more seriously this year because we need to find one.”

ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.