Why Derek Carr passed on the Jets before Aaron Rodgers blockbuster: ‘Wasn’t the right time’

Carr was exploring his options following an ugly breakup with the Raiders, with whom he spent eight seasons.

He was benched for the final two games of the regular season in 2022 before his release in February 2023.

He met with the Saints before speaking with Jets brass.

“I remember sitting there with [Jets coach Robert Saleh], and he’s like, ‘Look, man, we’d love to have you. It’s up to you,’” Carr recalled.

Despite the Jets’ interest, their infatuation with Rodgers, a four-time league MVP, lingered.

“The thing which was different in that situation was like Aaron is a nine billion-time MVP, right? But you still have to trade for him, whereas I’m free, and you can still keep those picks,” Carr said. “I was not asking for as much money as whatever they say your market is. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that, because wherever I go, man, I just want to win. So use the money. I don’t care.’”

Carr, a second-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Fresno State, signed with New Orleans roughly a month before the Jets acquired Rodgers, 40, in a blockbuster trade with the Packers in April 2023.

Weeks after signing a new two-year, $75 million deal with the Jets in August 2023, disaster struck as Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury just four plays into his Jets tenure.

Although the Saints posted a better record than the Jets in 2023, 9-8 compared to 7-10, New Orleans missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season with Carr throwing for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Carr has much admiration for Saleh, who was a coach for the Texans when Carr’s older brother, David, quarterbacked in Houston.

“I am probably like [Saleh’s] biggest fan,” he said, mentioning that his brother believed Saleh would strongly influence his decision to sign with the Jets. “Like I absolutely 10/10 would run through a wall for him even if he’s not my coach. If he was like ‘I need you to do this,’ yes, sir, I would do it. That whole situation, that was the hardest thing.”

The Saints will open the regular season on Sep. 8 against the Panthers.

Rodgers, who infamously skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp due to a pre-planned trip to Egypt, will begin his second Jets season against the 49ers on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 9