Derek Carr has announced his retirement, according to the New Orleans Saints, ending speculation about whether Carr would be able to play in 2025 after sustaining damage to his throwing shoulder.
The Saints say Carr, 34, has a torn labrum and “also had significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff.”
- Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers
Derek Carr Retirement Fantasy Football Implications
Carr had two years remaining on his contract. His retirement will save the Saints $30 million, according to team beat writer Mike Triplett, although Carr is still owed a $10 million roster bonus.
Drafted 36th overall by the Raiders in 2014, Carr made 169 starts over 11 NFL seasons — the first nine with the Raiders, the last two with the Saints. He finished his career with 41,245 passing yards, 257 touchdown passes and 112 interceptions. He had four 4,000-yard passing seasons, all of them coming consecutively from 2018 to 2021.
Carr appeared in only one playoff game in his career, throwing for 310 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 26-19 wild-card loss to the Bengals following the 2021 regular season.
Carr was a top-20 fantasy quarterback in 10 of his 11 seasons, though he never finished higher than QB10. He finished QB26 last year but missed seven games.
Though he was often maligned by fans, Carr was a perfectly average NFL starting quarterback. Lest that seem like a damnation of Carr with faint praise, consider how many teams are plagued with inadequate quarterbacking every season.
In honor of Derek Carr's retirement.
let's reflect on his 19-target-game to Darren Waller game back in 2021
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) May 10, 2025
Which brings us to the fantasy ramifications of Carr’s retirement. The Saints now seem destined to be a team plagued with inadequate quarterbacking in 2025.
The Saints currently have three quarterbacks on their roster. They are:
- Tyler Shough, drafted in the second round this year out of Louisville
- Spencer Rattler, a fifth-round pick in 2024 who made six starts as a rookie
- Jake Haener, a fourth-round pick in 2023 who has made one career start
Barring the acquisition of Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers or some other veteran — unlikely, since the Saints aren’t expected to contend for anything this year – it figures to be an open competition for the starting QB job this year.
Tyler Shough
Shough (pronounced “Shuck”) is the most intriguing of the candidates. He’s 25 years old and played seven college seasons, bouncing from Oregon to Texas Tech to Louisville. His long stay in college was partly injury-related. Shough broke his collarbone in 2021, reinjured it in 2022, and broke his leg in 2023.
The 6-5, 219-pound Shough has a live arm and runs surprisingly well for a bigger quarterback. In his final college season, he completed 62.7% of his throws with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions, averaging 266.3 passing yards per game and 8.2 yards per attempt. He had only 19 rushing yards last year, but remember that sacks count against a quarterback’s rushing yardage in college football. He had a 271-yard rushing season at Oregon and a 269-yard rushing season at Texas Tech.
Spencer Rattler
Rattler has the most professional experience from among this inexperienced group. His performances last season were predictably uneven — about what you’d expect from a fifth-round rookie being exposed to NFL defenses for the first time. He completed 57.0% of his passes and averaged just 5.8 yards per attempt, with four TD passes and five interceptions. Rattler averaged 197.0 passing yards and 22.7 rushing yards in his six starts.
Jake Haener
Haener made his only NFL start last December against the Commanders and was pulled at halftime after completing 4-of-10 passes for 49 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
The QB Competition in 2025
The competition is likely to come down to Shough and Rattler. Because of his superior physical tools and higher draft capital, Shough would seem to be the most valuable dynasty asset, although “most valuable” might not mean much. If none of the three quarterbacks display much promise in 2025, the Saints will likely go quarterback-shopping in what could be a QB-rich 2026 NFL Draft.
Shough and Rattler are certainly rosterable in dynasty leagues. Shough should be considered a dynasty QB3 and might have particular appeal to rebuilding superflex teams.
For redraft purposes, none of the Saints’ quarterbacks are likely to be roster-worthy in standard-sized leagues. Whichever quarterback earns the starting job will be rosterable but probably not startable in superflex leagues.
Carr’s retirement doesn’t bode well for the 2025 fantasy outlook of Saints wide receivers and tight ends. Chris Olave profiles as a risky WR3 who’s dealt with concussion issues. WR Rashid Shaheed, who’s coming off a meniscus injury that limited him to six games last season, looks like a late-round flyer at best. WR Brandin Cooks and TE Juwan Johnson are waiver fodder.
The Saints’ bleak QB situation might be less damaging to the fantasy stock of RB Alvin Kamara, an accomplished pass catcher who might frequently be used as a safety valve for his inexperienced QBs.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
