Who Should I Start? Derek Carr or Sam Howell

Monday, January 13, 4:36 PM

New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said on Monday that he still has a high level of confidence in quarterback Derek Carr. In his second season in New Orleans, Carr missed the final four games of the season due to a concussion and broken hand and missed a total of seven games due to injury in total. In the 10 starts that Carr did make, he completed 67.7% of his 279 pass attempts for a career-low 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. The four-time Pro Bowler has played in only 17 games in his two seasons in the Big Easy and carries an absurd $51 million salary cap hit in 2025. The 33-year-old doesn't have any guaranteed money left on the final two years of his deal, but it will still be tough for the Saints to move on given his salary cap hit. Carr's $30 million base salary and $10 million roster bonus for 2025 will kick in in the middle of March, so we should have more clarity by then.

Wednesday, January 1, 5:04 PM

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said the team doesn't plan on playing backup quarterback Sam Howell in their Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams. The Seahawks were eliminated from postseason contention in Week 17, but it sounds as though they plan to play all of their starters this weekend to close out the season. Howell has played only 25 offensive snaps in his first year in Seattle and didn't look particularly confident in the rare instances he got into a game this year. Despite dealing with a nagging knee injury of late, the 34-year-old Geno Smith should start and play all of the Week 18 game, lining him up as a QB1 option this week with so many starters across the league being rested in the season finale. Smith enters Week 18 as the QB13 in overall fantasy points with 4,097 passing yards, 17 TDs and 15 interceptions in 16 games.