A revered player has signed to a $150 million contract with the New Orleans Saints for

The Saints’ sizeable investment in Derek Carr is looking more like a liability lately.

New Orleans has struggled to finish promising drives in the end zone — something that likely needs to change if the Saints (5-6) are to keep up with the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (8-3) in the Superdome on Sunday.

“It’s something that we’re working on,” Carr said this week. “Everyone wants an answer, or has an answer for us, but we’re going to keep working on it here.”

Even with their losing record, the Saints are tied for first place in the anemic NFC South with Atlanta (5-6).

Reeling in Carr in free agency was New Orleans’ top priority last offseason. Saints coach Dennis Allen was the Raiders’ coach when that franchise drafted Carr, only to get fired during the QB’s rookie season.

The Saints were hoping Carr — whom the Saints signed to a four-year contract worth up to $150 million — could provide stability that had been lacking at that all-important position since Drew Brees’ retirement after the 2020 season.

Overall, Carr’s numbers have been solid. He has passed for 300-plus yards in five games this season. But his competion rate inside an opponent’s 20-yard line is 44.7%. Meanwhile, the Saints’ red-zone conversion rate — the number of drives inside an opponent’s 20 that resulted in a touchdown — is 42.5% (17 of 40), which ranks fourth-worst in the NFL.

Allen said that while the offense functions well much of the time, “the one critical area that continues to crop up is we’re not scoring enough touchdowns.”

“That’s an area that we keep focusing on,” Allen said. “And we’ll continue to work on it until we get it right.”

The Lions would rather that not happen this weekend as they try to improve to 9-3 for the first time since 1962. They also want to avoid dropping two straight for the first time this season after losing to Green Bay at home on Thanksgiving Day.

After studying his team’s last loss, Lions coach Dan Campbell came away not all that concerned about Detroit’s effort or overall execution. If not for turnovers, he said, the Lions could have fared a lot better. And that is something that Campbell is confident Detroit can fix.

“That’s the major issue right now,” Campbell said. “Ultimately, man, we’ve got to hold on to the football, which we can do. We can do that.”