Derek Carr Says 'It Wasn't Easy' to Give Up $30M Saints Contract, Retire from NFL

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr says it "wasn't easy" to pass on $30 million by retiring from the NFL ahead of the 2025 season.

Carr announced his retirement in March after medical tests determined extensive injuries to his right shoulder, according to the Saints. He had $30 million in guaranteed money for the 2025 season remaining on his contract at the time.

"It wasn't easy, I promise," Carr said in a Sept. 11 appearance on the Dan Patrick Show. "It's easy to make a comment, and just say, 'Yeah, it is what it is.' But it was hard. It was really hard."

Carr originally signed a four-year, $150 million deal with the Saints in 2023. He was then sidelined by a concussion and left hand injury late for the last four games of his 2024 campaign.

During the following offseason, he experienced right shoulder pain which led to tests revealing a "labral tear" and "significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff," according to the Saints.

The Saints reported that Carr had the option of undergoing surgery, but the procedure might keep him out for the entire of the 2025 season and there was "no guarantee Derek would return to the level of strength, function and performance of play to which he was accustomed."

Carr ultimately announced his retirement in a statement saying he had made the decision after praying and after consulting with his wife, Heather Carr.

"She saw, honestly, things no one else saw," Carr told Patrick about his wife. "Waking up on Monday mornings, and I can't walk. Waking up on Monday mornings, and I have to call her to come in the room, to help me get out of bed. So she was done. She was like, 'I'm good. Eleven years is enough.'"

Carr continued, "But for me, as a competitor— and my love, honestly Dan, I love the game so much. I just love football. I think it's great for character. I think it's great for everybody. I think it's team, it's unity. It's all the things I believe in.

"But to say no to the money part of it? I had to die to myself on that one. I had to be like, what's the right thing to do, all that. Because, on the inside, you're like, 'Well, it's easy. I'll just make that money and go.' But it just wasn't right, because I wasn't ready."

Carr ultimately retired having collected more than $205 million in career earnings through 11 NFL seasons for the Saints and the Raiders, according to Spotrac.

The four-time Pro Bowler closed out his playing career having recorded 41,245 passing yards, 257 passing touchdowns to 112 interceptions, and a career 92.8 quarterback rating through 169 games.

Carr launched the next stage of his career when he made his debut as a studio analyst during last week's YouTube broadcast of the international game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.