Juwan Johnson Says Derek Carr Gave Him ‘Similar Feels’ to Drew Brees

As Derek Carr prepared for his first season with the New Orleans Saints, tight end Juwan Johnson was already seeing similarities between his new quarterback and one of the franchise’s most familiar leaders.

Speaking with Solomon Wilcots and Shane Vereen on SiriusXM NFL Radio’s “The Opening Drive” ahead of the 2023 season, Johnson compared Carr’s presence in the huddle to former Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

“He’s giving me a lot of Drew [Brees], going into the huddle, commanding the huddle, the guys gravitating to him,” Johnson said. “These are things I’ve seen — how Drew conducted the huddle, how Drew conducted the offense and things like that. So, it’s giving me similar feels.”

Johnson had an up-close view of Brees’ leadership after joining the Saints in 2020, Brees’ final NFL season.

Carr arrived in New Orleans in March 2023 after spending his first nine NFL seasons with the Raiders, giving the Saints a veteran quarterback with experience in several different offensive systems.

“He’s been in an offense where he’s had Josh McDaniels [and] Jon Gruden, so he has a lot of that he can bring over to our offense,” Johnson said.

Johnson also believed Carr would have plenty of options around him in New Orleans.

“We have a lot of pieces on our offense which I think he’s probably never had before,” Johnson said. “And so I feel like that’s something that he could use a little bit.”