Derek Carr is finally back in action. Weeks after announcing his retirement, the former New Orleans Saints quarterback joined YouTube’s pregame panel, analyzing the Kansas City Chiefs vs Los Angeles Chargers game in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Friday.
Carr’s analysis, especially his breakdown of Justin Herbert’s plays, impressed fans. “Derek Carr got me fired up right now. Tell me how good Herbert is gonna be this year,” one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Derek Carr is putting some much-needed respect on Justin Herbert’s name on the YouTube TV pregame show. Carr said he has “no doubt” that Herbert is “the guy.” Carr also mentioned drops and unblocked pressures as something Herbert had to deal with a lot last year. Carr gets it,” another one added.
“Did not have Derek Carr being a Justin Herbert defender on my bingo card,” a third fan tweeted.
Derek Carr walked away from football recently, choosing retirement over surgery and leaving behind $30 million he would have collected by staying on the New Orleans Saints’ roster.
The veteran quarterback explained that undergoing shoulder surgery would have sidelined him for the entire 2025 season while still guaranteeing his paycheck, something he wasn’t comfortable with.
“I didn’t want to just have surgery, sit out, and take the Saints’ money,” Carr told Front Office Sports. “If I had the operation, I couldn’t play. If I tried without it, I wasn’t close to 100 percent. Neither helped the team. For me, stepping away felt like the right decision.”
The Saints later confirmed Carr had suffered a labral tear along with “significant degenerative changes” to his rotator cuff. Despite the setback, Carr made it clear money was never his primary motivation. “People thought I was crazy, but I’ve never played just for the money,” he said. “At the end of the day, peace in my heart mattered more than anything else.”
Carr, 34, had joined New Orleans in 2023 on a four-year, $150 million contract. He went 14-13 as a starter over two seasons, though injuries limited him to only 10 games in 2024. The Saints have since moved forward with younger options, drafting Tyler Shough in the second round this spring and keeping Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener in the quarterback mix.
A second-round pick of the Raiders in 2014 out of Fresno State, Carr carved out an 11-year NFL career highlighted by four Pro Bowl nods. He finished with 41,245 passing yards, 257 touchdowns, and 112 interceptions across 169 games with the Raiders and Saints.