Carr desires a Super Bowl contender, but zero teams have inquired about acquiring his contract. His trade market remains unexpectedly dormant.
Retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr has been a surprise storyline for the Saints this offseason. The quarterback has been vocal about a potential return to the league.
For Carr, the move is contingent upon playing for a Super Bowl contender, or at least a team that has that kind of aspiration for the 2026 season. The limited number of teams that fit that criteria might make it difficult to find a landing spot. One expert says there has been no movement on that front.
Mike Florio of NBC Sports shares that there is no news on a potential trade destination for retired Saints quarterback Derek Carr. Florio gave his update on where things stand with Carr and other NFL teams.
"Last month, retired quarterback Derek Carr said he'd return to football for a chance to play with a Super Bowl contender.
As of Scouting Combine week, the Saints hadn’t heard from any team regarding a potential trade for Carr's contract rights. Through the first week of free agency, we're told, the Saints still haven't gotten any inquiries.
In the interim, plenty of teams with needs at the quarterback position have filled them, from the Dolphins (Malik Willis) to the Jets (Geno Smith) to the Vikings (Kyler Murray) to the Falcons (Tua Tagovailoa).
With the Raiders presumably waiting to make Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, only two teams currently have a hole in the QB1 spot: the Steelers and the Cardinals."
New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) prepares to throw a pass against the San Francisco 49ers in the first quarter at Levi's Stadium. Cary Edmondson-Imagn ImagesThat no team has shown interest in Carr may come as a surprise, but it could be more about timing than lack of belief in the player. Carr would have to be traded for while other key quarterbacks are free agents or demonstrated more worthiness of being traded for in playing football last season. Carr took the year off in 2025.
That does not mean the quarterback is not good or does not add value. It does mean that there are safer options teams will look to first before possibly pivoting to Carr as a secondary option.
There are teams that could add the quarterback to compete for a starting position if not be the expected starting quarterback. Then again, it's interesting to see if Carr wants to go somewhere that he would have to compete for the starting job with a comparable quarterback.
So far there is little to no movement on the Carr trade front. We'll see if that changes over the next couple of weeks.