Five NFL offseason moves that fell flat: Saints shortchanged on Derek Carr, Jets strike out on WR

As of right now, the New Orleans Saints are 7-8, and their chances of making the playoffs are rapidly diminishing. This indicates that the era of Derek Carr has not necessarily been especially successful for the squad. The bad news is that it appears as though the team is very much committed to keeping Carr for the upcoming season, or at the very least, paying him a significant amount of money.
According quarterback Mike Florio, an insider in the league who writes for Pro Football Talk, Derek Carr is already provided with a guarantee of $30 million from the organization, and that amount has the potential to rapidly increase to $10 million.

“From a purely practical standpoint, they are already responsible for forty million dollars. Under the terms of Carr’s contract, he will receive a salary of thirty million dollars in the year 2024 completely guaranteed. In March of 2024, the additional ten million dollars that is due in 2025 will be fully guaranteed. According to an article that Florio posted for Pro Football Talk on Friday, the only way for the Saints to avoid the additional $10 million is to fire Carr before the payment amounts are made.
Would they be willing to pay him thirty million dollars to go in order to prevent having to pay another ten million dollars? Not likely at all. It is possible that a new coach would be ready to absorb the penalty, particularly considering that an offset duty would apply to the 2024 pay, in the event that a coaching change is imminent (Saints fans have a tendency to call for one on a regular basis).

It is obvious that this is rather terrible news for the Saints because it appears to tie them into a quarterback who hasn’t necessarily done all that well this season. The NFL community has a lot to say about it on social media, and it has been a topic of discussion.
As of right now, the New Orleans Saints are 7-8, and their chances of making the playoffs are rapidly diminishing. This indicates that the era of Derek Carr has not necessarily been especially successful for the squad. The bad news is that it appears as though the team is very much committed to keeping Carr for the upcoming season, or at the very least, paying him a significant amount of money.

According quarterback Mike Florio, an insider in the league who writes for Pro Football Talk, Derek Carr is already provided with a guarantee of $30 million from the organization, and that amount has the potential to rapidly increase to $10 million.

“From a purely practical standpoint, they are already responsible for forty million dollars. Under the terms of Carr’s contract, he will receive a salary of thirty million dollars in the year 2024 completely guaranteed. In March of 2024, the additional ten million dollars that is due in 2025 will be fully guaranteed. According to an article that Florio posted for Pro Football Talk on Friday, the only way for the Saints to avoid the additional $10 million is to fire Carr before the payment amounts are made.

Would they be willing to pay him thirty million dollars to go in order to prevent having to pay another ten million dollars? Not likely at all. It is possible that a new coach would be ready to absorb the penalty, particularly considering that an offset duty would apply to the 2024 pay, in the event that a coaching change is imminent (Saints fans have a tendency to call for one on a regular basis).

These poor offseason moves are part of the reason why these teams aren’t as good as they were the year prior — or just not a playoff team at all. Poor offseason moves are quickly judged and ridiculed thanks to these teams paying these poor contracts for several years, affecting their salary cap space and ability to become a contender.

Of all the players who signed as free agents with new teams or were acquired via trade, here are five examples who didn’t pay off:

5. Titans sign Andre Dillard

Dillard had trouble getting on the field with the Eagles in his four seasons in Philadelphia, with the former first-round pick eventually becoming a valuable backup tackle who could only play the left side. The Titans took a chance on Dillard and gave him starting tackle money, allowing him to protect Ryan Tannehill’s blind side.

It is obvious that this is rather terrible news for the Saints because it appears to tie them into a quarterback who hasn’t necessarily done all that well this season. The NFL community has a lot to say about it on social media, and it has been a topic of discussion.

It is not accurate to say that Dillard has been a blind-side protector.

In 251 pass-blocking snaps, Dillard has allowed 11 sacks and 34 pressures while starting eight of the thirteen games he has participated in. The percentage of sacks is 4.4%, and the percentage of pressure is 13.5%. It is currently tied for the most sacks allowed in the league this season, and Dillard has the greatest pressure rate allowed of any player in the league.

The Titans were under the impression that they were recruiting Taylor Lewan’s successor. As a result, Dillard was placed on the bench in October.

4. Giants trade for Darren Waller

Through a trade, the Giants acquire Waller from the Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick in 2023.
It appears that Waller has been on the injured list more frequently than he has been on the field, despite the fact that the Giants made a few terrible moves throughout the offseason in regard to their offensive. With forty receptions, four hundred twenty-four yards, and a score, Waller has participated in nine games thus far this season.

In Week 15, Waller made his return to the team after being sidelined for more than a month due to a hamstring injury. This was the same hamstring that plagued him during the entirety of the 2022 season while he was a member of the Raiders. Due to the fact that Waller has not had a game in which he has thrown for 100 yards and has not provided the Giants offense with the lift that it so urgently requires, the hamstring problem has persisted throughout the entire season.

The New York Giants are now ranked 31st in the league in terms of scoring offense, and they owe Waller, who will shortly turn 32 years old, a cap figure of $14.46 million in 2024 (there are three years left on Waller’s contract). During this offseason, they are left with a choice to make with Waller.

3. Chiefs sign Jawaan Taylor

Long-term agreement: $80 million for four years
In the event that the Chiefs were under the impression that they were going to acquire a replacement for Orlando Brown, who had left for the Bengals, they were given the exact opposite. The Chiefs ultimately decided to transfer Taylor to the right tackle position. This move came about as a result of a brief experiment at left tackle that was unsuccessful, which resulted in the team having to switch to Donovan Smith.

A lack of success has been observed in the right tackle position. Over the course of 585 pass-blocking snaps, Taylor has surrendered four sacks and 34 pressures, which is 18 more pressures than he had throughout the entirety of the previous season. Taylor’s pressure rate allowed per dropback is 5.8%, which is the highest it has been since the year 2020. Additionally, this year, he has allowed seven quarterback hits, when in 2022, he did not allow any quarterback hits.

For the year 2024, the Chiefs are still responsible for paying Taylor a total of $24.73 million. They should be praying that he will recover.