Derek Carr's Saints teammate, Juwan Johnson, recently paid Carr one of the greatest compliments ever while also dissing his former team.
There's plenty of love lost between Derek Carr and his old team, the Las Vegas Raiders. Put simply, the two did not end on good terms.
As Carr begins a new chapter of his career with the New Orleans Saints, he should be strengthened by the fact that all his teammates carry nothing but hope and praise for the veteran quarterback.
His transition to the Saints has been made easier with ex-coach Jon Gruden visiting the team facility, and on the field, Carr has already forged strong bonds with a few of his offensive playmakers. One of those playmakers is fourth-year tight end Juwan Johnson, who appears to take Carr's side on all things Raiders-related.
After Carr spoke about his rocky end to his Las Vegas tenure, Johnson piped up to slip in another diss on the widely hated Raiders franchise.
"[Carr's] been in an offense where he's had Josh McDaniels, Jon Gruden, so he has a lot of that he can bring over to our offense. Obviously, we have a lot of pieces on our offense — which I think he's probably never had before. So that's something that he can use a little bit."
Johnson also compared Carr to Saints legend Drew Brees, so it's pretty clear how highly he thinks of his new quarterback.
Saints TE and Derek Carr's new friend Juwan Johnson fires at Raiders
On paper, the Saints "offense" that Johnson talks about is really not so much of a brag. Last season, NOLA crawled to a 7-10 record plagued by the quarterback inconsistencies of Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton.
Heading into 2023, the quarterback issue seems to have a band-aid stopgap in Carr, and the Saints should see several of their starlets enjoy more productive seasons. Michael Thomas will be back, for real this time (fingers crossed). Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed should only get better in Year 2. Alvin Kamara and newly signed back Jamaal Williams make a threatening duo on the ground.
That's not to say the Raiders didn't have mighty offensive talent in 2022, though. Carr still had the likes of Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Josh Jacobs to throw to — like the Saints, the Raiders were decimated by injuries, which is part of the reason their offense wasn't clicking so well.
In the end, the 2022 Saints vs. Raiders offense is like the battle of the mids. Neither looked like serious playoff contenders nor totally flopped. Both will look to achieve greater heights this upcoming season and Carr, in particular, will be hunting for that sweet taste of revenge.
