The quarterback position has once again become a major question mark for the New Orleans Saints.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr’s availability for 2025 is in doubt due to a shoulder injury, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Carr is reportedly considering multiple options, including surgery.
Carr restructured his contract last month to give the Saints $30.9 million in salary-cap space for 2025, while giving him a cap number of $69.2 million for 2026. He’s coming off a 2024 season in which he missed three games due to an oblique injury, then had his season ended in Week 14 when a hard hit left him with a fractured hand and a concussion.
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The 34-year-old is one of four quarterbacks currently on the Saints’ roster, alongside 2024 draft pick Spencer Rattler and career backups Ben DiNucci and Jake Haener. In his rookie season, Rattler started six games in relief of Carr and went 0-6.
Rattler would theoretically be the next man up on the depth chart, unless the Saints pull off a stunner from the No. 9 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s unlikely the draft’s top quarterback, Miami’s Cam Ward, would fall to them there, but the Saints are favored at BetMGM to select Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders.
Carr has one year remaining on his current deal after 2025, though his void years mean he will continue to haunt the Saints’ balance sheet after that. The Saints have been arguably the most cap-stricken team in the league for years — they’re already over $25.9 million over the cap for 2026 per OverTheCap — and this won’t help them at all.
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