Saints' Derek Carr Saga Could Lead To Surprise Ending

This situation continues to get weirder and weirder...

Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) walks the field before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

What is going on in New Orleans?

For weeks, it seemed like everything was alright. The Saints restructured deals and was active in free agency seemingly with the intent of trying to compete in 2025 in Kellen Moore's first year as the team's head coach.

Last year was a bad year, but there is a lot of talent on this roster and there's a real chance that they could be significantly better in 2025 just with better health. The Saints had a pretty surprising amount of high-impact injuries last year and this was a topic that has been talked about by team legend Cam Jordan throughout the offseason so far.

The Saints opted to roll with Derek Carr but a mysterious shoulder injury has complicated matters. The mystery is the fact that it hasn't really been discussed what the ailment is, when it happened, how long he could be out, etc.

The Athletic's Dianna Russini and Chase Daniel spoke about the matter on the "Scoop City" podcast and had some interesting things to say. One thing specifically that was floated is that this whole situation could be "trade bait."

"I had a lot of text messages and conversations about the Derek Carr situation,” Russini said. "And it was very hard for me to find someone in football who said, ‘Oh, Derek’s definitely dealing with a serious shoulder injury.’ It was, ‘How long (have) you been doing this? You know what this is about, right?’ Trade bait, right? End of the day, that’s what this is about...

"I wonder if there’s a little bit of a, let’s just call it, ‘an excuse’ made here with the shoulder. So that Derek doesn’t look back asking for a trade because of the situation."

There were reports earlier in the offseason that Carr would've been open to a trade, but then the Saints publicly comitted to him. There's no other way to say it than this situation is just odd.

More NFL: Saints Fan-Favorite Called Potential Derek Carr Replacement