New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr has quickly worn out his welcome in the Big Easy.
Last Friday, NFL Network reported that Carr is dealing with a shoulder injury that could force him to miss the entire 2025 season. A few days later, Dianna Russini of The Athletic provided an update on the veteran quarterback's health.
During the latest episode of the "Scoop City" podcast, Russini called Carr's injury situation fishy. She also said there's a chance his camp leaked the news due to reports about the Saints having interest in the rookie quarterback class.
"I did have a lot of text messages and conversations over the last few days about the Derek Carr situation and it was very hard for me to find someone in football who said, 'Oh, Derek's definitely dealing with a serious shoulder injury.' It was, 'How long have you been doing this? You know what this is about.' Trade Bait. End of the day, that's what this is about," Russini said.
This report didn't sit well with a former Saints player from the Super Bowl XLIV team.
On Tuesday night, former Saints linebacker Scott Shanle questioned Carr's leadership skills.
"My two cents about Derek Carr shoulder injury news. If he's pouting because the Saints are gonna look for a young QB in the draft he's too thin skinned to be your quarterback and the guys in that locker room deserve better," Shanle wrote on X. "A competitive person would say it's time to play so well the young guy won't touch the field anyways. Nothing is promised to anyone in the NFL. Everyone's time comes to an end. Nobody is owed anything. If really injured should be at facility and surrounded by surgery specialists today! Mrs Benson didn't pay you 40 million dollars a year to do car reviews on YouTube.
"Tough times will always reveal a man's character."
Carr has been with the Saints since the 2023 season, completing 68.2 percent of his passes for 6,023 yards with 40 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Earlier this offseason, New Orleans restructured Carr's contract to free up cap space. That move was supposed to make him the Week 1 starter for Kellen Moore's squad. Obviously, that doesn't appear to be the case anymore.
Intriguing theory emerges about Derek Carr’s injury
A surprising theory has emerged about New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr’s injury and the public information about it.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic said on the “Scoop City” podcast that all indications are that news of Carr’s potentially season-ending injury was leaked by the quarterback’s camp, not the Saints. Russini found the timing of the story “fishy,” and believes this may be Carr’s way of sending the Saints a message as the team works out quarterbacks prior to the NFL Draft.
“From what I can gather, it appears the information got out from the Carr side of it,” Russini said. “I had some conversations with people in New Orleans who were aware of it, but weren’t looking to put it on blast. … I think he’s the one who isn’t thrilled with the Saints at this point.”
Russini added that there was reason to believe that new Saints coach Kellen Moore was not enthusiastic about Carr, which may have played into the quarterback’s issues.
“Maybe this is Derek Carr looking at the situation and going, ‘I don’t want the Kirk Cousins treatment. I don’t want to be your quarterback, you guys draft a young guy coming in here, and it’s basically, when is he going to play?’ Which makes a quarterback room tense.”
Cousins was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons, only for the team to immediately draft Michael Penix Jr. less than two months later. Penix wound up starting by the end of the season, while Cousins is trying to find a way out of Atlanta.
The Saints certainly do not see Carr as a long-term answer at quarterback. They have been meeting with quarterbacks throughout the pre-draft process, and even visited with one the day the Carr news came out. Carr’s message may be that the Saints are welcome to draft a quarterback, but they should not expect him to play if they do.
Carr and the Saints just restructured his contract in a way that is beneficial to him. He is not going anywhere in 2025 no matter what, making the situation even more intriguing.
