It appears as though Derek Carr’s days as a member of the New Orleans Saints could be numbered. In fact, there are rumors he could be traded to the Cleveland Browns for a late-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft. Carr was supposed to be the flag-bearer for the Saints this season and be their starting quarterback after a season riddled with injuries. Those plans changed last Friday when NFL Network reported that Carr could miss the entire 2025 season due to a shoulder injury. According to Diana Russini of The Athletic, Carr’s injury might actually be a trade strategy that his representatives are trying to use on the Saints. “I did have a lot of text messages and conversations over the last few days about the Derek Carr situation 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.’ Trade Bait. End of the day, that’s what this is about,” Russini said. Ross Jackson of the Locked On Podcast Network and LouisianaSports.Net mentioned the Browns as a possible trade candidate for the quarterback’s services. Jackson had the following to say on LouisianaSports.net. “The Browns would pick up just over $1 million of salary in exchange for what would likely be a day three pick. It would give Carr a chance to start fresh when he’s healthy, while allowing the Saints to officially move on from the past and embrace a new era,” Jackson said. “With Kellen Moore at the helm, the team could handpick a quarterback in this year’s draft, roll with Spencer Rattler, or look ahead to 2026.”
It would behoove the Saints to get the deal done after June 1 for salary-cap purposes. It might be getting too late in the season to start shopping Carr to other teams, so the Browns might be in luck if they are willing to wait the season for him to get healthy. “In luck” … unless Carr is in trouble because he’s hurt … or maybe in trouble because he’s not.