Derek Carr is open to returning to the NFL for the right situation, and if his dream is to win a Super Bowl and get his game straight by finally playing with a great team, then the Los Angeles Rams could be the “special” opportunity that the veteran quarterback says he needs right now.
Appearing on Good Morning Football on Friday, Carr said that teams have reached out to him to gauge his interest in playing in 2026, and the quarterback said, “I’ll never say never, but it would take a special situation,” noting that a few teams contact him. He added that he’s at the point that “I just want to win. I want to win.”
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The Rams are probably going to win a lot of games next season and they could use a veteran backup, even if the rumors are that L.A. will move on with the options they have on the team right now. But signing Carr by offering him a backup role behind Matthew Stafford without having to compete against Stetson Bennett and Ty Simpson for it would also be the ideal situation for the Rams.
If Stafford gets injured, L.A. will have a legitimate replacement option already on the depth chart.
If Carr’s intention is to rebuild his career and experience real success for the first time in his career, then following the same path as Baker Mayfield and learning from Sean McVay and Stafford should be his goal. There are still three weeks before training camp starts to make it happen.
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So he’s clearly not going to play for the Browns or the Cardinals.
Carr could be the Garoppolo
The Rams wanted to bring back Jimmy Garoppolo for another year, giving Simpson a full season to develop behind the scenes, but the veteran is still contemplating retirement and has no plans to return to L.A. that we know about.
Carr last played in the NFL with the Saints in 2024, throwing 15 touchdowns in 10 games. He’s 35, which is still young enough for Carr to spend one year on the Rams as a backup and potentially hit the ground running if an opportunity presents itself in 2027; just think of how it worked for Sam Darnold when he signed with the 49ers in 2023.
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He has since won 14 games with two different teams.
Darnold is much younger than Carr, but he’ll be much more attractive as a free agent in 2027 if he plays with a winner—even as a backup, potentially snagging a couple of starts along the way—than if he plays for a bad team or just stays home all year.
If Carr just wants to win, as he says he does, then there is one blindingly clear option in front of him.
It’s the L.A. Rams.
But do the Rams want him and does Carr want to win, or does he want to start?
He probably can’t have both.
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