The New Orleans Saints could be without quarterback Derek Carr for the entire 2025 season because the veteran signal caller is dealing with a shoulder injury.
New Orleans needs to replace Carr and there are plenty of options available to choose from. The best options are likely to be found in the NFL Draft, but there are a few decent free agents available, too.
ESPN's Katherine Terrell recently linked the Saints to ex-New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a potential replacement for Carr.
"Rodgers has 20 years of starting experience and won Super Bowl XLV, but the Saints would have to be willing to work around both his schedule and salary," Terrell wrote. "If New Orleans were to bring in Rodgers, it would have to be willing to pay both him and Carr in 2025. While the Saints have the cap space to do it, they might not want to invest significant capital in two quarterbacks who might not be long-term options.
"Rodgers said he has told teams he will play for $10 million and hasn't made a long-term deal a requirement. Rodgers, who was released by the New York Jets in the offseason, started all 17 games there last season after missing most of the 2023 season with a left Achilles injury. Rodgers threw for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns and had 11 interceptions in a 5-12 season."
Rodgers is the top free agent available at this point, but that doesn't mean he would be a good fit for the Saints.
The Saints likely wouldn't instantly become Super Bowl contenders with Rodgers. He would probably only want to sign a one- or two-year contract, too.
Instead, the Saints could look to land a quarterback in the draft. Players like Jaxson Dart and Shedeur Sanders make a lot more sense for the Saints than the 41-year-old Rodgers.
Complicated Derek Carr situation may have taken new turn
Reports of a shoulder injury to Saints quarterback Derek Carr that may require surgery have put his situation in New Orleans back in the spotlight.
Shoulder surgery could force Carr to miss some, if not all, of the 2025 season, effectively forcing the Saints into a long-avoided rebuild. That could push them to using the No. 9 pick on a quarterback after doing their homework on this year’s class.
However, surgery is not a certainty, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, which could keep Carr on the field this fall and a best-player-available approach on the table for the Saints during next week’s draft.
The reports of Carr’s shoulder injury, combined with his comments rejecting the idea of a pay cut in January, paint an odd picture, especially with a new head coach in Kellen Moore. Carr did not attend the start of the Saints’ voluntary offseason workout program, per Matthew Paras of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, though that’s hardly surprising for a player dealing with an injury.
A recent contract restructure committed the Saints to Carr for 2025 and reduced his cap hit to $20.5M, an affordable number for a starting quarterback who has performed well in black and gold when healthy. However, the prospect of surgery puts his availability for this season in question, and his contract will become prohibitively expensive next year.
Carr currently has a $69.2M cap hit for the 2026 season, per OverTheCap. The Saints could reduce that number with another maximum restructure, but that would only increase the $40.5M in dead money that’s already waiting at the end of Carr’s deal in 2027. An extension is out of the question until there’s some certainty with Carr’s shoulder, and even then, New Orleans is looking for a long-term quarterback in the draft.
It’s hard to know, therefore, if there’s any fire behind this smoke, or if Carr’s injury is just that: an injury.
