The earlier report that quarterback Derek Carr was open to being traded from the New Orleans Saints this offseason — before his unexpected retirement announcement on May 10 due to a serious shoulder injury — has led some to speculate that he might consider an NFL comeback in 2026.
However, a lengthy report published on Friday by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Katherine Terrell indicates the 34-year-old Carr is comfortable with his decision to end his playing career.
“The belief among two player sources and one league source is that Carr had been at least considering retirement well before the extent of the shoulder problem was apparent, even if Carr was simply taking stock of his own career mortality as the season concluded,” Fowler and Terrell noted. “Then why gauge interest from other teams? One source with knowledge of the situation said Carr was simply considering his options at that point. Even if retirement was a consideration, it was hardly a solidified plan. And Carr would not have been clear on the extent of the shoulder issue in early March when he was evaluating his potential market.”
Carr reportedly didn’t “notice” something was seriously wrong with his shoulder until he started throwing “meaningfully” during the spring, after the Saints restructured his contract in March. According to Fowler and Terrell, “a Carr representative spoke with at least two teams in the market for a quarterback about potential interest in the veteran” earlier in the offseason. Those talks “never reached a serious point” before clubs such as the Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and New York Giants filled their quarterback rooms via other transactions.
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly “remain optimistic” that they will eventually sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers as their 2025 Week 1 starter.
NFL insiders such as Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated have noted that the Saints and Carr negotiated a deal “where the team won’t go after the $10M roster bonus it already paid out for 2025, and Carr will walk away from the $30M that he could’ve gotten simply by having surgery and going on injured reserve.” Per Fowler and Terrell, Carr “did not want to earn a bloated salary against the team’s cap with no intention or possibility of playing after surgery” because “integrity matters to him.”
None of this means Carr won’t have second thoughts about his retirement next year if he’s pleased with where he’s at in his recovery and an advertised contending team calls about his services. That said, it sounds like he feels this spring that he’s given all he can as an active NFL signal-caller.
“Carr was already well on his way to $200M in career earnings,” Fowler and Terrell added. “He had played through various systems and coaching staffs. [First-year New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore] would have represented his seventh head coach and eighth playcaller since entering the league in 2014. He has played through many injuries — including a serious one with the labrum that hadn’t even been known. Within that context, his retirement should have perhaps been unsurprising.”
