The New Orleans Saints made Derek Carr's retirement official on Tuesday afternoon by filing the paperwork. Before the clock turned midnight, Kool-Aid McKinstry had already taken the number for himself.
Kool-Aid McKinstry takes Derek Carr's old number
There were rumblings McKinstry would look to take No. 4, but nothing could happen until Carr was off the roster. It didn't take long for McKinstry to prove those rumors were more than just chatter.
The cornerback clearly has an affinity for the number four. When he first joined the Saints as a rookie, he wore No. 34. Great number for a cornerback, by the way. McKinstry wore 34 for the entire offseason before switching to No. 14. Rookie mistake
A year later, McKinstry is going into his sophomore season with 4 on his back. After wearing two numbers with four in it, he saw the opportunity to grab No. 4 and jumped on it. This means the Saints top cornerbacks will both be wearing single digits, as Alontae Taylor wears No. 1.
Donovan Peoples-Jones moved as quickly as McKinstry
McKinstry wasted no time taking Carr's number, Donovan Peoples-Jones wasted no time taking McKinstry's number. Peoples-Jones joined the Saints this offseason after impressing as a tryout during rookie minicamp.
The wide receiver didn't have many options and chose No. 24. Once McKinstry jumped to No. 4, that left No. 14 available. Peoples-Jones made sure that didn't last long. Tuesday evening, he switched his jersey number too.
Jersey switch was for the best
Both McKinstry and Peoples-Jones made a switch to much more pleasing jersey numbers. 14 still isn't the best looking number, but it is more fitting of a wide receiver than a cornerback. Chalk that up to years of receivers being able to wear No. 14.
24 is a great number, but it's hard to imagine a wide receiver wearing the number. Rashid Shaheed gets away with wearing No. 22, but most wide receivers aren't gravitating towards numbers in the 20's.
McKinstry gets a single digit number, and Peoples-Jones falls into a traditional wide receiver number. This feels like an all around win for the eyes of Saints fans.