After 11 NFL seasons, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr announced his retirement. Carr has been dealing with a shoulder injury throughout this offseason, and rather than getting surgery and missing the entire 2025 season, Carr chose to call it a career.
While rumors were already swirling regarding Carr’s 2025 status ahead of the NFL Draft, we now know for certain that he will not be in the picture. And that means it’s time to start considering what the Saints’ other options will be under center.
There are several different directions in which the team can go, and we want to take a minute to examine each of them here.
This is the option that makes the most sense. The Saints just selected Shough with a second-round pick — No. 40 overall. He was the second draft pick of the Kellen Moore era, and New Orleans clearly felt good enough about him to invest significant resources in acquiring him. Shough was also touted as being an NFL-ready prospect due to his age (he turns 26 years old in September) and extensive college experience (he appeared in 42 total games and made 32 starts across seven seasons at Oregon, Texas Tech and Louisville). The Saints would also benefit from getting a long look at Shough before deciding whether they need to invest in a first-round quarterback next offseason, with a draft class that is considered much more top-heavy than this year’s. If he plays well, great; they have their long-term answer. If he doesn’t, they’ll likely be in good position to draft someone in 2026.
Neither of these options makes much sense. Both Rattler and Haener were drafted by a previous regime in New Orleans, and they were both Day 3 picks. The Saints do not have much invested in either of them. We’ve also seen them make starts, and the results were not good. If they’re going to start a player currently on the roster, it should without question be Shough.
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