Quarterback (QB) Derek Carr of the New Orleans Saints answered questions about his departure of the Las Vegas Raiders and arrival at the Saints at the press conference on Saturday, saying that the move "lit a fire" in him.

"I understood the business side of it and why things were happening, all that. I mean, I get it. But it hurt. For me as a competitor, I wanted to finish with my teammates. ... It lit a fire in me, that I've always had, but it just made it hot. It gave me this excitement," Carr said.

Carr played nine seasons for the Raiders since he was drafted by the team with the 36th pick in 2014. He grew to become a four-time Pro-Bowler after completing 3,201 of his 4,958 passes for 35,222 yards and 217 touchdowns in the team. He threw over 4,000 yards in four straight seasons between 2018 and 2021.

However, the Raiders only made two postseason appearance during Carr's nine-year tenure and lost in the American Football Conference (AFC) Wild Card Game on both occasions in 2016 and 2021.

Though Carr signed a three-year, $121.5 million contract extension with the Raiders in 2022, their relationship broke up after last season. The team released him in February before he joined the Saints on a four-year, $150 million contract.

"It's hard because I love so many people there. At the same time it's a breath of fresh air," Carr said of his decision to leave the Raiders. "I wouldn't be me if I didn't say thank you to them. I had nine great years there, a lot of great memories, a lot of hard times, a lot of fun times, a lot of kids since those days. And Mr. Davis and the Raiders organization, thank you. If they see this, I have to say something to them because I wouldn't be there without him."

Carr's joining of the Saints helped the team keep the 2019 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, wide receiver wide receiver Michael Thomas. When the team restructured Thomas' deal in January, he seemed close to leaving.

"When he started recruiting and talking to me, he wasn't even trying to recruit me, he was just like, 'When are we getting to work? We're wasting time, time is ticking.' I was like, 'Dude, I'm the same way. We'll get there.' But I think that our relationship has grown through the process, and I'm looking forward to hopefully making that relationship grow even stronger," Carr said at the press conference.

Carr worked with the Saints' head coach Dennis Allen in his rookie season in 2014, though Allen was fired after only four games. Multiple teams reached out to him after he became a free agent, but Carr chose the Saints, partly because of Allen.

"DA, how I feel about this man, hopefully me sitting here tells you what I think about him and the opportunity," Carr said. "You gave me my first opportunity, every time we played y'all ever since we weren't on the same team, I would always tell you thank you. Even in the press conference leading up to that game [last fall], I would say I was always thankful to DA because he gave me my chance. He trusted me with the keys to an organization, to be that quarterback there for nine years. ... We're just getting started and all that's in the past."