If former Raiders and Saints quarterback Derek Carr wants to play again, there are teams interested in his services. But so far, he hasn’t heard an offer intriguing enough for him to accept.
Carr said on NFL Network today that teams have contacted him about potentially coming out of retirement, and he isn’t ruling it out. Carr did not name those teams, but if they didn’t get permission from the Saints first, they were violating the NFL’s tampering rules. Carr was still under contract with the Saints when he retired, and other teams can’t contact him without the Saints’ permission. The Saints would also likely want trade compensation from any team that wanted Carr.
“I never say never,” Carr said. “It would take a special situation. There were multiple teams that reached out to me this offseason. I won’t say who or how, but they reached out and were gauging my interest on what I wanted to do. They were good, solid football teams.”
Carr said he will only return if a Super Bowl contender needs him.
“I’m just at the point where I just want to win. I want to win. So if I were to do it, it would have to be a special team that maybe lost somebody or needed somebody, but even then, it’s not guaranteed,” Carr said. “I’m having too much fun hanging out with my wife, hanging out with my kids, and trying to get good at golf. So it would take a special deal.”
When Carr announced his retirement last year, he and the Saints both said his injured shoulder would have hampered his ability to keep playing. But Carr now says that if the right team calls at the right time, he’ll be in shape and ready to play — even if he doesn’t anticipate that happening.
“I’m always training,” Carr said. “I’ll be in shape and ready, but probably not. I’ll probably be just coaching my kids.”
The 35-year-old Carr was drafted by the Raiders in 2014, played nine seasons with them, and then played his final two seasons with the Saints in 2023 and 2024. Now, after a year out of football, he’s not ruling out playing for a third team.
