Could Colts lure Derek Carr out of retirement to replace injured Daniel Jones?

Mike Moraitis

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Could Colts lure Derek Carr out of retirement to replace injured Daniel Jones? image

The Indianapolis Colts are in a very bad way right now after the injury to Daniel Jones and that should have the team exploring any and all options.

Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles injury in Week 14 and now the Colts are left with rookie Riley Leonard and veteran practice squad quarterback Brett Rypien, neither of whom are likely to keep this team afloat.

With the trade deadline passed, the Colts' outside options include quarterbacks on the practice squad of other teams and those in free agency.

The options aren't good on either front, though.

The far less likely option is convincing a retired quarterback to come back and play out the rest of the season, like former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr, for example.

We've seen Carr's name floated a bit as a possible desperation play for the Colts now that Jones is out for the season, but there is just no way Carr lands in Indianapolis, and for multiple reasons.

Why did Derek Carr retire?

Carr announced his retirement in May after it was discovered he had a shoulder injury that required surgery and might keep him out for the entire 2025 season.

The injury was diagnosed as a labral tear, and it was also discovered that Carr had "significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff," per NewOrleansSaints.com, which means his shoulder may never be the same again.

Why Derek Carr won't be an option for Colts

There are multiple reasons why the Colts won't be able to bring Carr in.

For starters, we don't even know if he has any desire to come back.

There hasn't been any indication he does and Carr said back in June he remained happy with his decision to call it quits.

"My agent literally texted me a few days ago and he said, 'Hey, just checking it in. How's everything? You still feel comfortable with the decision?' And I sent him a picture of me on the beach with my two kids playing. And I said, 'This beats an OTA any day.' And he said, 'Yeah, I thought so,'" Carr said.

"So I'm doing great and have thoroughly enjoyed being home."

Adding to that, Carr might not even be healthy enough to play thanks to his shoulder issues, which in and of itself could halt this idea in its tracks.

Another major problem is the Saints still own his contractual rights, so if Carr came out of retirement, the Saints would have to release him, which would have financial implications for New Orleans' cap space through 2026.

Even if all that happened, Carr would then have to pass through waivers and teams chasing Indianapolis in the wild-card race could get cheeky and claim him in order to block Indianapolis from upgrading its quarterback spot for the stretch run.

There are just way too many hurdles to jump to get Carr to Indianapolis.

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Editorial Team