Saints punter Blake Gillikin readying for awkward talk with Derek Carr

https://t.co/oJoWrJjYqp pic.twitter.com/wdrybH3baa

— Blake Gillikin (@blakegillikin) March 6, 2023

So now that the dust has settled and the New Orleans Saints have brought in their new franchise quarterback, and we can get to the really important question: who will be wearing No. 4 in black and gold, Derek Carr or Blake Gillikin?

The Saints’ punter is a restricted free agent, which means the team has multiple options in retaining him for 2023. They also don’t have a single punter under contract for the 2023 season, so it’s a safe bet that he’ll be back. But will he let Carr buy the jersey off of him? Gillikin has only made $2,059,441 from his three-year rookie contract with New Orleans, so this is a great opportunity for him to carve out a slice of Carr’s $150 million pie.

Gillikin responded to a fanmade edit of Carr wearing New Orleans’ No. 4 jersey (usually used by Gillikin) with a classic reaction meme of a child delivering a nervous side eye near the soft drink fountain at a Popeyes restaurant (an aside: the kid’s name is Dieunerst Collin, and he recently signed an NIL deal with Popeyes after becoming a Division II college football player), so he’s at least considering his options if he and Carr are on the same team next year.

As for other their options: Gillikin wore No. 93 in college at Penn State and No. 33 in high school, while Carr has used No. 4 all the way back to his high school days (and his Fresno State alma mater retired it in his honor back in 2017). Neither of Gillikin’s past numbers are eligible for punters in the NFL, though, so he’ll eventually have to pick from one of the open numbers (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 11, 14, 15, 17, and 19; if Jameis Winston, Tre’Quan Smith, or Michael Thomas move on then Nos. 2, 10, and 13 could be available) for at least training camp if Carr buys No. 4 off of him. It’s something very, very minor to monitor in the months ahead.