Saints' Derek Carr's 2025 NFL season reportedly in jeopardy with shoulder injury

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr's season could be in jeopardy due to a shoulder injury the 34-year-old suffered during the offseason, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

According to Rapoport, the veteran quarterback is currently weighing his options for what to do, and those options include surgery, which would end his 2025-26 season before it even starts.

The injury puts new head coach Kellen Moore and the Saints in quite the bind heading into the second half of the offseason. The vast majority of this year's crop of free agent quarterbacks are already signed, and given New Orleans' salary cap situation (in a word: awful), they're unlikely to have the money to go get a veteran replacement off the scrap heap, like Aaron Rodgers.

Spencer Rattler played in seven games last season for New Orleans as a rookie, and while the 24-year-old showed flashes of promise in that span, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns, and clearly needs a bit more time to bake to find out if he's going to be anything. It's also not clear how well Rattler will fit in Moore's system, and how the coach rates the young signal caller at this stage.

The Draft remains an option for the Saints, however. Holding the ninth pick in the first round, options like Shedeur Sanders and Jaxson Dart could be on the board and available for the taking. But, given the uncertainty around this year's draft, and specifically its quarterbacks, there are no guarantees that either of those players will still be on the board when the Saints come up, and its very possible that New Orleans simply doesn't rate them as viable options at this point.

Whatever option the Saints pick, Carr's injury is a blow for a team hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2024-25 season and make a push for a playoff berth next year.

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Saints' Derek Carr's 2025 NFL season reportedly in jeopardy with serious shoulder injury

By Sam Westmoreland | Apr 11, 2025