Derek Carr, Saints
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Retired New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr getting ready ahead of an NFL game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Rumors have been swirling that the New York Jets will strike a trade with the New Orleans Saints for retired quarterback Derek Carr.
However, the team had a very blunt response to that noise.
“Yeah, I don’t know where that’s coming from. Don’t count on it,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said on “Jets Final Drive” when he brought those rumors to his sources inside the Jets building.
“I have turned up nothing that would indicate the Jets are actually involved in Derek Carr, or interested in Derek Carr, or would want Derek Carr,” NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY added.
Paul Andrew Esden Jr
It seems like we can put the rumors of the #Jets trading for retired #Saints QB Derek Carr to bed.
‘I have turned up nothing that would indicate the Jets are actually involved in Derek Carr, or interested in Derek Carr, or would want Derek Carr,’ @Connor_J_Hughes said.
Where the Carr-Jets Trade Rumors Started
At the 2026 NFL Combine, NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry revealed some of the rumors he heard in Indianapolis.
“Derek Carr. Yes, the retired 34-year-old Derek Carr. From what I heard, the Saints expect him to un-retire and play in 2026. The Saints are very happy with Tyler Shough, so New Orleans expects Carr to un-retire, and then they will trade him to the New York Jets,” Berry wrote.
The rumors only appeared to intensify this week. On the “Home Grown” podcast, Derek Carr and his brother David played a game trying to predict where all the quarterbacks would land this offseason. Derek asked David where he thought Derek Carr would land.
On the show, they censored the answer, but if you listen closely to the tail end of the bleep out, it appears David said “the Jets.”
Or at least that is what tons of fans speculated on social media.
𝙅𝙀𝙏𝙎 𝙈𝙀𝘿𝙄𝘼🛫
What team did he say… 🤔
I heard JETS ‼️
Insiders Reveal What Is Really Going On…
Rosenblatt revealed that “everything I heard” at the NFL Combine was that the Saints hadn’t been getting “phone calls” inquiring about Carr’s potential availability.
Carr retired while he was still under contract with New Orleans. If he is going to play for a team in 2026, someone would have to trade for his services.
“In my head, when I saw that clip, it wasn’t ‘Oh, he’s definitely going to the Jets.’ My takeaway was that he is worried that maybe no teams want him, and he is trying to put it out there that there is a team that he might be going to,” Rosenblatt explained on “Jets Final Drive.”
The Only Way a Carr-Jets Trade Potentially Transpires
“I’ve said it for a couple of weeks, I don’t see Derek Carr happening. If it did, it would be because the Jets kind of struck out on their other options,” Rosenblatt bluntly stated.
Hughes revealed that the Jets are “targeting” Geno Smith and Carson Wentz as their quarterback plan in free agency.
Smith is set to be released by the Las Vegas Raiders on the first day of the new league year on Wednesday, March 11. Wentz is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after spending last season with the Minnesota Vikings.
ESPN NFL Insider Jeremy Fowler said on “NFL Live” that the Jets may have to wait for the quarterback dust to settle to land their guy. In other words, they aren’t considered an attractive destination for QBs, so they could be a fallback option for a player.