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How Saints QB Derek Carr's Shoulder Injury Impacts the 49ers

The 49ers just might land a top-10 prospect with the 11th pick in the upcoming draft. And they can thank Derek Carr for that.
Grant Cohn|
Dec 15, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) after a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Dec 15, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) after a touchdown against the Washington Commanders during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers just might land a top-10 prospect with the 11th pick in the upcoming draft. And they can thank Derek Carr for that.

Carr reportedly has a shoulder injury that could cost him all of 2025. Which means the Saints could be in the market for a quarterback. And they currently own the ninth pick in the Draft.

The 49ers do not seem to be in the market for a quarterback. They just signed Mac Jones to a two-year deal and they're trying to sign Brock Purdy to a long-term extension. So the more teams that draft quarterbacks in the top 10, the better.

Currently, as many as three teams are expected to draft quarterbacks in the top 10 -- the Titans, the Giants and the Saints. Which means the 49ers just might land the eighth-best player on their draft board. So they don't really have to trade up. They can stand pat and get a better player than they normally would with the 11th pick.

If the Saints take Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, it's possible that Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou will fall to the 11th pick and that would be the best-case scenario for the 49ers. They need an heir apparent to Trent Williams and Membou has the talent to be a top-five pick. Fortunately for the 49ers, teams reach for quarterbacks every year.

Even the 49ers reached for one when they traded up for Trey Lance in 2021.

I bet they won't make that mistake again.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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