Derek Carr's Retirement Sparks Brutal Mockery Of The Saints By Fans For Not Drafting Shedeur Sanders

Derek Carr has announced his retirement from the National Football League after enduring a season battered by injury.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback made the decision after suffering a labral tear in his right shoulder.

Meanwhile, Derek Carr's retirement after 11 seasons has sparked mixed reactions from fans, as they lament how the Saints should have drafted Shedeur Sanders.

The New Orleans Saints have announced that their veteran starting quarterback, Carr, has retired from football after suffering a labral tear in his right shoulder and "significant degenerative changes" to his rotator cuff.

In the 2014 season, Carr was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of that year's NFL draft with the 36th overall pick, and went on to play 11 pro seasons. He was acquired by the Saints prior to the 2023 season, but has had mixed results, winning and losing almost the same number of games as a starter.

He struggled with hand and head injuries that caused him to miss seven games last season and experienced unexpected pain in his throwing shoulder when he began training this off-season.

"Surgery was an option, jeopardizing the entire 2025 season, yet there was no guarantee Derek would return to the level of strength, function, and performance of play to which he was accustomed," the Saints said in a written announcement.

According to NBC News, Carr explained that he made the decision to retire having consulted with his wife, Heather, and "upon reflection of prayer."

"For more than 11 years, we have been incredibly blessed, and we are forever grateful and humbled by this experience," Carr said. "It's difficult to find the right words to express our thanks to all the teammates, coaches, management, ownership, team officials, and especially the fans who made this journey so special."

The 34-year-old sports star has career passing totals of 41,245 yards, 257 touchdowns, and 112 interceptions. He retires with a 77-92 regular-season record as a starter and without having won a playoff game.

It comes after the Saints employed a high second-round draft choice to select Louisville's Tyler Shough as a potential future starting quarterback, even though he'll need some time to settle in.

Carr's retirement has sparked mixed reactions from fans, as many of them pointed out that the Saints should have drafted Shedeur Sanders, who plays for the Cleveland Browns.

"Everybody retiring but Aaron Rodgers lol," a fan commented. "Now I have to agree with a lot of people here and say it might be a huge mistake for them passing up on [drafting] Shedeur Sanders. This is gonna be interesting to see how it plays out though."

Another fan explained that the Saints went for Shough "because he's 25 turning 26" and that they "think he's more polished than Shedeur," but added that they "should've taken a risk for Shedeur" and could've "HIT big if he pans out."

A third person wrote on X, "Saints fans looking at the front office like this for not drafting Shedeur Sanders."

One more individual noted, "Now they look dumb as f-ck for not drafting Shedeur."

While several individuals online were worried about the current state of the New Orleans Saints, others took out time to wish Carr well on his retirement.

"I'm not even surprised. He went from a crappy situation in Oakland/Vegas to a worse one in New Orleans. Godspeed to him, may he have a restful and joyous retirement," one fan wrote.

"Probably was time to retire. I bet Derek Carr really wanted to play football. Enjoy your retirement. Great career!" another fan penned.

A third person commented, "Probably was time to retire. I bet Derek Carr really wanted to play football. Enjoy your retirement. Great career !"

Carr was seemingly involved in a back-and-forth with netizens as they questioned the timing of his shoulder injury.

Many had pushed back against the reports suggesting his injury was fabricated, but Carr confirmed his shoulder injury during a ChurchLV sermon and said he had an "MRI report to prove it."

"I have an MRI report to prove it," Carr said. "The team knows about it. We've been in constant communication. There's nothing wrong. We're figuring it out, and we're going to go forward with that. Is that OK?"

He went on to say that he's been dealing with people "lying about me."

As Carr's journey with the team ends, the Saints have the 25-year-old quarterback, Tyler Shough, to work with going forward.

Saints' head coach Kellen Moore also spoke on Carr's retirement, noting that he greatly impacted their decision to draft Shough.

"We certainly felt like adding a quarterback to that room would've been valuable under all circumstances," Moore said, per Sports Illustrated.