Examining the Idea of the Dolphins Going for Derek Carr

The Miami Dolphins have an unsettled quarterback situation heading into the offseason and all scenarios seemingly are fair game

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws the ball in the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The speculation about the identity of the Miami Dolphins' 2026 starting quarterback is in full swing, and there's been an intriguing new entry among the list of possibilities.

It comes courtesy of NFL.com writer Nick Shook, who wrote about veteran Derek Carr and his reported desire to make a comeback in 2026 after he sat out the just-completed season.

The report was about pointing out four potential landing spots for Carr, and the list included the Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets and, yes, the Miami Dolphins.

"The Dolphins are expected to move on from Tua Tagovailoa this offseason and might only have Quinn Ewers, heading into his second pro season, as their best remaining option," Shook wrote. "With a roster that is talented enough to contend and includes stars like De'Von Achane and Jaylen Waddle, the Dolphins only need a proven starter to complete the majority of their offensive picture. They'd find that in Carr, who would need to be convinced of new head coach Jeff Hafley's vision but could find a welcome home in warm and sunny Miami."

Interestingly enough, there was another time when the idea of Carr coming to Miami was brought up, and that was the result of a report suggesting then-head coach Joe Philbin wanted to draft the quarterback in the 2014 draft to compete with or replace Ryan Tannehill. The Dolphins ended up selecting tackle Ja'Wuan James in the first round that year and Carr was gone by the time Miami picked in the second round.

WHY CARR COMING TO MIAMI DOESN'T COMPUTE

While the idea of adding Carr might sound appealing and likely would provide an upgrade over what the Dolphins got out of the quarterback position in 2025 (and maybe even 2024), there are a few reasons this just doesn't seem very logical.

We can start with the fact that Carr remains under contract with the New Orleans Saints, for whom he played in 2024. That means there likely would have to be draft pick compensation and the Dolphins, in rebuild mode, really aren't in a great position to be sacrificing draft capital.

That would be, of course, unless they were ready or close to being ready to make some kind of run, and any objective look at the Miami roster should lead to the conclusion this team unfortunately looks closer to landing the No. 1 overall pick in 2027 than winning the Super Bowl in 2026.

Carr is a solid quarterback, but he's also not a franchise-changing quarterback. He's also not a long-term answer, so he'd be at best a bridge quarterback to maybe someone the Dolphins land in the 2026 draft, whoever that might be.

We haven't even gotten yet to the cap situation, which is not ideal. As Shook pointed out, if the Dolphins wanted to make it work, they could (because there's always a way with the cap), but it could have ramifications on the roster next season and beyond.

The bottom line is Carr just doesn't make a ton of sense for a rebuilding team. Besides, why would Carr want to return for that kind of situation?

Of the four teams Shook mentioned, the Steelers and Vikings make the most sense, and we'd put the Jets third and the Dolphins fourth.