NFL Breaking News: New Orleans Saints QB Derek Carr Retires
In a Saturday morning announcement that might have come as a surprise to some, New Orleans Saints starting quarterback Derek Carr announced he’ll be retiring from the NFL. Those paying attention through offseason news were aware that Carr was dealing with a shoulder injury that was rumored to threated his 2025 season. Instead, the 11-year veteran with 170 total games under his belt decided it was time to hang them up.
His retirement naturally has implications both on the field and in the front office. We’ll take a moment now to reflect on his career, his injury, his retirement, and what that means for the New Orleans Saints. The biggest impact, naturally, will be 2025 rookie Tyler Shough potentially getting to start at quarterback for the New Orleans Saints after his seven-year journey through college football, taking full advantage of the transfer portal. That certainly moves the needle, especially for fantasy football.
Derek Carr Career Stats and Earnings
There will be mixed reviews of Carr’s career, depending how you look at it. Playing in the NFL for a decade is no easy feet and Carr held down a starting job for 170 games. If you look at the last 20 years of NFL football, his 41,245 passing yards are the 14th-most over that span and his 257 touchdowns would also rank 14th.
In terms of winning, he only made it to one playoff game in his 11 seasons, which he lost 26=19 to the Cincinnati Bengals with the Las Vegas Raiders. It’s not easy to win in the NFL, especially when you spend the majority of your career with one organization, but he leaves behind a record of 77-92 in the regular season with that 0-1 playoff record.
One thing no one will disagree on is that Carr made himself a fair chunk of money in his career. Per Spotrac, he earned just shy of $200 million with a career earnings of $195,666,395. Whether or not Carr decides to pursue NFL analysis or other endeavors following his retirement is entirely up to him.
Derek Carr Injury
This offseason news had slowly leaked about Carr dealing with a fairly seriously shoulder injury. At first, the rumors suggested he could miss some of 2025 and then it became all of 2025. The shoulder injury that inevitably forced him to retire turns out to be a labral tear and degenerative rotator cuff damage to his throwing shoulder. That certainly does not sound like something pleasant for a guy who’s job is throwing things for a living.
Derek Carr Salary Cap Implications
Based on details released by Saints beat writer Nick Underhill, Carr’s decision to retire will honestly be a friendly one monetarily for all involved. Carr made a $10 million bonus by being on the roster through his March roster bonus - which he will be allowed to keep. His $30 million cash he was due for this year, however, will revert back to the Saints. That will help with the cap.
What will further help the cap is that the sides have mutually agreed to file his retirement after the June 1 deadline. This deadline is important because, had his retirement been official before that, his cap hit would all count towards 2025. Because it will be filed after, his ~$20M cap hit can be spread over 2025 and 2026.
New Orleans Saints Quarterback Depth Chart
With Carr gone, the top of the Saints depth chart is wide open. He actually missed time last year with this injury as well and we saw both of the backups play. Spencer Rattler was a 2024 fifth-round pick out of the University of South Carolina while Jake Haener was a foutth-round pick out of Fresno State. Neither really lit the world on fire given their opportunity, but the Saints team as a while was missing key pieces.
What we are most likely to see, however, is their second-round rookie pick from the recent 2025 NFL Draft get a chance. They selected quarterback Tyler Shough who, as we mentioned in the intro, took the long road to the NFL with three years at Oregon, three years at Texas Tech, and one year at Louisville. The Saints didn’t select him at ninth overall, but they did circle back to take him in the second - and he should get a chance sooner rather than later.
New Orleans Saints Fantasy Football Implications
Typically, we’d say the surprise retirement of a team’s starting quarterback is a nightmare for fantasy football. It certainly was for Andrew Luck. And the fantasy assets on teams like the Giants and Steelers certainly suffered when Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisburger retired. But the injury was clearly affecting Carr for most of 2024 as he only had one game where he threw for over 250 yards. In 2023, he threw for over 300 yards on six different occasions.
This QB change really brings uncertainty to the table more than anything. The floor with young quarterbacks is always the same - that they will be terrible. But the ceiling for a young playcaller at this stage is higher than Carr with a bum shoulder. Shough is also 26 years old with a lot of experience in big games so it’s not like they’d be throwing a 21 year old into the fire here. Granted, those games were played in college.
The big cause for concern for guys like Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Alvin Kamara, Juwan Johnson etc. is that they don’t have that veteran to fall back on as of now. If Anthony Richardson isn’t gett he job done with the Indianapolis Colts, for instance, they can lean on Daniel Jones. Fellow rookie Jaxson Dart is in a room with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. If Shough isn’t getting it done, it could be a long and lost season for the Saints with guys like Rattler and Haener rotating in.
Player News
Frank Ragnow’s absence from Lions OTAs this week appears contract-related.
Ragnow and linebacker Alex Anzalone were the only players not in attendance for OTAs this week. While Anzalone has made it clear with social media posts that he’s unhappy with his contract situation, it appears that Ragnow also wants a new deal. The 29-year-old center signed an extension in 2021 to make him the highest-paid center at the time. Now Ragnow’s contract, which runs through the 2026 season, is just fourth in average annual value among centers and has no guaranteed money remaining. Ragnow is still at the top of his game, coming in as PPF’s highest-graded run blocking center in 2024 (90.9). Lions coach Dan Campbell downplayed the absences, mentioning that he’s been in contact with both players and that there’s still a month to go before training camp. While the Lions have handed out many extensions in the last two years, the front office is aware that a cap crunch is looming in the years ahead, which could put a strain on negotiations with veteran players like Ragnow and Anzalone.
Texans OC Nick Caley said he had “no concerns whatsoever” about C.J. Stroud not throwing in voluntary OTAs this week.
Our “we have no concerns whatsoever” t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by our shirt. This is something we feel almost obligated to report, but everyone close to the Texans scene has painted it as a nothingburger, and DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday that players are “on different schedules in regards to their participation.” There doesn’t appear to be anything physically wrong with Stroud at this point.
Joe Mixon (lower body) did not participate in Friday’s voluntary Texans OTAs.
NBC’s Aaron Wilson has said that the injury, that reportedly has him in a walking boot, is “nothing serious” and that he thinks Mixon will be “ready for training camp.” It’s worth noting that Mixon played through an ankle injury in the playoffs. This probably isn’t something that should cause him to tumble down Best Ball boards but it’s worth monitoring as we get closer to training camp.
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson believes “there’s almost no scenario” where a rookie quarterback wins the Browns starting quarterback job initially.
This won’t qualify as surprising news, but Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are battling for the pecking order after the gate is lowered. “But the reality is that either Gabriel or Sanders staying in the team’s plans and being deemed worthy of further development would count as a win,” Jackson notes while praising Sanders’ “obvious gifts.” Both quarterbacks are in the dynasty conversation, but they should be treated as stashes at this point.
Free agent EDGE Von Miller said he’s “definitely playing in 2025.”
It’s not unusual for older pass rushers to take their time in deciding where to go, and Miller appears to be no exception. He told 9NEWS’ Mike Klis that a return to the Broncos “wouldn’t make sense” because the team has two strong pass rushers. Miller will likely be able to catch on elsewhere — probably closer to training camp — if he desires to continue his career.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Eagles “are working to finalize a trade that will send edge rusher Bryce Huff” to the 49ers.
According to Schefter, the Eagles are looking to acquire a mid-round pick in exchange for Huff’s services. Huff signed a three-year deal with the Eagles last season after recording a 10-sack season with the Jets in 2023, but was limited to 12 games due to a wrist injury and declared inactive for the team’s Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. Huff has two years left on his deal and has amassed 20 sacks over his first four years in the league. Last season with the Eagles, he played on 285 defensive snaps, with 182 of those coming in pass rush situations. We should expect to see a similar split for Huff in San Francisco.