The New Orleans Saints have been connected to several of the 2025 NFL Draft's top quarterbacks. Meanwhile, amid the team's evaluation process, a shoulder injury that jeopardizes Derek Carr's 2025 playing status has suddenly emerged. Weird, right?
Roughly a week after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the Saints "could end up taking a quarterback," Carr began "weighing options," including surgery. The optics suggest the four-time Pro Bowler is unhappy with New Orleans searching for his heir apparent while he's signed through 2026. And new information from Katherine Terrell of ESPN, revealing that members within the organization "were unaware of the situation," further adds to the speculation.
Derek Carr's shoulder injury caught the Saints by surprise
Per Terrell, it's "unknown" when the Saints discovered Carr's ailment, though "some of the assistant coaches" didn't find out until the rest of us did. She also added that the severity of the matter remains "unclear at this point."
Meanwhile, Dianna Russini of The Athletic ($) recently noted that "the injury was not a surprise to either the Saints or the 11-year veteran." While that may be the case, not everyone in the building was privy to being kept in the loop, according to Terrell. Regardless, intel regarding this fiasco has been all over the place, and there's ostensibly no resolution in sight.
Naturally, the first two questions many are asking regarding Carr's injury are: 1. Is it real? 2. How/why didn't anyone know about this sooner? We got an answer to the initial query, considering going under the knife is on the table. But this being kept under wraps for so long is still a mystery.
New Orleans has met with many of this year's top signal-caller prospects. Chief among them is Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, and the Saints are the betting favorites to choose him. Moreover, the club has also hosted a private workout for Alabama's Jalen Milroe and hosted Quinn Ewers (Texas) and Tyler Shough (Louisville) for top-30 visits. They've also spoken to Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart and consensus No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward (Miami), ostensibly leaving no stone unturned.