{"id":740977,"date":"2026-02-09T19:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740977\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:42:18","slug":"former-nfl-qb-derek-carr-is-mulling-a-comeback-why-these-2-teams-should-call-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/740977\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NFL QB Derek Carr is mulling a comeback | Why these 2 teams should call him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr<\/a> could come out of retirement and return to the NFL<\/a>, potentially leading to a shakeup in the free agency market. <\/p>\n

According to NFL Network reporters Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero<\/a>, the former New Orleans Saints quarterback could play again if he landed in the \u201cright situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not the first time Carr has mentioned coming back. The Bengals seriously tried to coax Carr out of retirement once starting quarterback Joe Burrow<\/a> suffered a turf toe injury. However, Carr declined, paving the way for the Bengals to acquire Joe Flacco<\/a> in a trade with their AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n

Carr, 34, last played for the New Orleans Saints in 2024, completing 67.7% of his passes for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. He only played in 10 games that season because of a hand injury. However, before the start of the 2025 season, Carr announced his retirement on May 10, 2025, after it was discovered he suffered a shoulder injury, leading to his decision. The decision also meant he gave up $30 million in the process.<\/p>\n

The Saints still have the rights to Carr. They technically could use that as leverage to get a draft selection from the team that wants him as their quarterback, especially now since they have Tyler Shough, the Saints\u2019 2025 second-round draft pick who showed promise in the second half of last season. However, the NFL Network reporters do not believe the Saints would hold up a move for Carr to go to another team.<\/p>\n

As a free agent, he would be one of the top quarterback targets. Currently, the soon-to-be former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins<\/a> would be the best quarterback on the market. Green Bay Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis would be another highly sought-after quarterback.<\/p>\n

Among the teams that need a starting quarterback that could be enticing for Carr are the Miami Dolphins and the Indianapolis Colts. The Dolphins are expected to replace Tua Tagovailoa. Adding Carr to lead an offense with wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and running back Devon Achane would instantly return the Dolphins to be among the top offenses in the league. His accuracy and decision-making would also fit in with Dolphins new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n

Another team to watch would be the Minnesota Vikings. Last year\u2019s starter J.J. McCarthy struggled mightily, completing just 57.6% of his passes for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. <\/p>\n

Vikings head coach and offensive play-caller Kevin O\u2019Connell will need to boost his offense to not only keep him off the hot seat but also to maximize the talent of wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who had career-lows in receiving yards (1,048) and touchdowns (two). The Vikings would also have to hope their banged-up offensive line, including left tackle Christian Darrisaw and center Ryan Kelly, remains healthy.<\/p>\n

The Jets <\/a>and Arizona Cardinals could potentially make a call to Carr as well but given their chances of winning in the short-term, they could become long shots to land him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr could come out of retirement and return to the NFL, potentially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[265,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-740977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116042383285247003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}