The New Orleans Saints may not have been expecting much from quarterback Derek Carr after his shoulder injury was projected to sideline him for most of the 2025 season. Luckily for New Orleans, Carr has taken any sort of uncertainty around their QB1 spot out of their hands entirely.
Carr has officially retired, giving the Saints a much clearer outlook on what their quarterback room can look like in 2025. A team that is perpetually in salary cap hell also has some knowledge on what the future of this team is going to look like now that Carr's mammoth contract is off the books.
Spotrac believes that the Saints will process Carr's retirement in a way that spreads out his remaining dead cap over the next two seasons. If Carr is going to give back around $30 million by retiring, the Saints can absorb a $15 million cap hit this season and a $36 million hit in 2026. Not ideal, but it could have been worse.
Saints could pay $50 mil in dead cap after Derek Carr retirement
Carr completed 68% of his passes and tossed 40 touchdown passes against just 13 interceptions in 27 starts with the Saints, going 14-13 in that span. In classic Carr fashion, his numbers were good enough to give the Saints above-average quarterback play at times, but not good enough to help them win meaningful games.
Carr ended his career with more passing yards than Joe Montana and Jim Kelly and more touchdown passes than Dan Fouts and Steve Young. With four Pro Bowls to his name, Carr finished his career with over 41,000 yards and 257 touchdowns. Not bad for a second-round pick.
The Saints will move on with a three-headed quarterback room of second-round draft pick Tyler Shough, 2024 draftee Spencer Rattler, and Jake Haener. Considering the hype and his draft status, it seems very likely that Shough is going to end up as the team's starter at some point.
Carr tried his best in New Orleans, but his body seems to have failed him. The burden now falls on Shough to provide a competent facsimile of high-end quarterback play as he tries to replace him.