Report: League views Carr injury as ‘trade bait’

Some are suggesting that the NFL may not be taking New Orleans Saints’ quarterback Derek Carr’s recent injury news at face value.

In a recent episode of the Scoop City podcast, co-hosts NFL Insider Dianna Russini and former Saints quarterback Chase Daniel discussed the latest around Carr’s shocking injury news from late last week.

Along with sharing that the recent report of a shoulder injury threatening Carr’s 2025 availability came from Carr’s camp, she also notes that the league is seeing this developing story in a different light.

“I had a lot of text messages and conversations about the Derek Carr situation,” she 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.”

This does align with the report earlier in the offseason that Carr and his camp were willing to explore other market options before his contract was eventually restructured. Previously, the assumption was that the contract being restructured would tie the quarterback and the Saints together for the 2025 season. However, this recent news is raising doubts about Carr’s future in New Orleans.

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

If that is the case, Carr may have been better off simply requesting a trade as is often the case seen across the NFL. But regardless of how it is that the veteran passer has decided to push his way out of New Orleans, presuming that is the case, the reason why is clear to Russini.

“I know that the New Orleans Saints are on a mission to get a quarterback,” she said. “That’s the facts. Where in this draft? I’m unsure of. I just know they are looking to get a quarterback in this draft. And maybe this is Derek Carr looking at the situation going, ‘I don’t want the Kirk Cousins treatment. I don’t want to be your quarterback, you guys draft a young guys coming in here, and it’s basically: When is he going to play?’”

Carr may have been better off just saying that up front if that is indeed the deciding factor for him. Certainly that would have been the ideal situation for the Saints, who restructured his contract, creating more than $69 million in dead cap for the 2026 season.

If this is truly what Carr is trying to do, it’s reasonable for the Saints to try to find a trade suitor after June 1. That will allow them to cut ties with the passer by sending him to another team and accelerating their much-needed reset.

The challenge will be finding a team that would be willing to take him in. However, regarding the quote league sources gave Russini on how this move is trade bait, it seems that the stink on the situation may not only be pungent but not so out of the ordinary that anyone would pass up getting a veteran passer on a little over $1 million of salary cap space if they otherwise miss out in the draft.