NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr could possibly unretire this offseason and join a roster needing a veteran quarterback. Carr doesn’t need to come out of retirement, but could potentially be swayed by the right coaching staff or roster. This would benefit the Saints as he’s still under contract, meaning a team would have to trade for him thus giving them extra draft capital.
The most important thing to understand is that this move isn’t a guarantee. There’s a lot of smoke right now, but oftentimes that doesn’t amount to anything. There needs to be the perfect situation, timing, and compensation for this to happen. Rapoport included this in his article covering the possibility.
“Carr doesn't seem to be actively chasing a return to the NFL. He's indicated he has enjoyed spending time with family and taking on various projects,” Rapoport wrote, “But he surely knows the interest is there and sources have said the right situation and coaching staff could lure Carr back onto the field.”
Trade compensation is difficult to estimate but a mid round pick for Derek Carr is a win
It’s challenging to get an estimation of what the compensation would look like for a Carr trade. There's no real precedence here. However, it’s currently estimated to be a day three pick. A fourth or fifth round pick feels like a solid starting point. Carr is a former starting quarterback, and the idea of having multiple suitors is one thing that could drive the price up.
Carr is back to throwing the football, and he's a veteran player. If the Saints attempted to trade him last year, they probably would have gotten multiple calls. The injury and time away will lessen those calls, but there were teams interested in pulling him out of retirement midseason. The value is clearly there. It's just a matter of how did the time away impact it.
The Saints will have to count on multiple teams competing for Carr's services to increase the compensation. Outside of that, Saints have little leverage in this scenario, as Carr is content in retirement and doesn't want to play in New Orleans, so they will take whatever they can get for him. Regardless, even a seventh-round pick is better than nothing.
A day three pick doesn’t seem important on the surface, but it’s been valuable for the Saints in recent years. They had five of these picks last draft: Danny Stutsman, Quincy Riley, Devin Neal, Moliki Matavao, and Fadil Diggs. Obviously, the last two haven’t amounted to anything yet, but the first three are all solid contributors. Trading Carr for one of them would be well worth it.
Overall, the news that Derek Carr may want to unretire for 2026 is shocking, but could work out well for the Saints. It’s all hypotheticals currently, as the perfect situation would have to form, but is still a possibility. An extra day three pick would be valuable for the rebuilding team looking to take shots on future stars.