Saints Happy With Young Quarterbacks After Carr’s Retirement

New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore said the team is not actively pursuing a veteran. Then again, ‘we’re always looking to upgrade.’

Kellen Moore, then Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator and New Orleans Saints head coach candidate, answers questions at the Caesars Superdome during the Super Bowl Opening Night in New Orleans on Feb. 3, 2025. Michael DeMocker/Getty Images

The New Orleans Saints have no immediate plans to add a veteran quarterback.

Derek Carr, the team’s starter for the past two seasons, medically retired due to a torn labrum and degenerative changes to his rotator cuff. That left the Saints with three young quarterbacks on the roster: Jake Haener, Spencer Rattler, and Tyler Shough. At a press conference Monday, Saints head coach Kellen Moore said there is more than enough experience on the coaching staff to make up for an older player.

“Certainly there’s times where if the opportunity presents itself, you feel like it’s a really good fit, we'd love to do it,” Moore said. “But we feel like we got some good guys here. They can certainly mentor each other at the same time, going through this process.”

Moore pointed to previous examples of young quarterback rooms that had success. His quarterback rooms in Dallas as both a player and coach were led by young players. The Los Angeles Chargers also had a young QB room with Justin Herbert and Easton Stick. In 2024, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback room was led by five-year veteran Jalen Hurts and backups Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee.

Moore also pointed to the veteran presence on the coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier was drafted by the Saints in 1994 and played four seasons with New Orleans. He has 24 seasons of coaching experience in college and the NFL. Senior offensive assistant Scott Linehan has 36 years of coaching experience, 17 of which are in the NFL. Quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien played seven years in the NFL.

The Saints’ QB room is headlined by 2025 second-round draft pick Tyler Shough, 2024 second-round pick Spencer Rattler, and 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener.

“I think that’s the one thing you recognize is all these quarterbacks are going to come from different experiences, different exposures, different play styles, and so I’m excited just to spend time more and more on the field with these guys, just to get a feel for them,” Moore said. “We feel like we got a really good group, a really exciting group. It’s a young group, but it'll be a lot of fun.”

The Saints will also have a fourth quarterback going into Organized Team Activities and Mandatory Minicamp: Hunter Dekkers, who signed as an undrafted free agent after a successful rookie minicamp tryout. Dekkers played football at Iowa State and Iowa Western Community College.

“Hunter did an excellent job,” Moore said of Dekkers’s tryout. “We talked about him through the draft process. He obviously has a unique story, a unique experience. [We] felt like he has some tremendous ability. He’s a great kid, and we’re excited to work with him.”

This part of the offseason will not have a heavy competitive aspect, because the only live practice periods will be seven-on-seven. Moore said the spring workouts would be much more about “the process and less on the results.”

“A lot of it [is] just their understanding,” he added. “They’re taking the classroom to the field for the first time.”

Most of the decisions will be made in training camp in July and the preseason in August, he said.

However, Moore did not rule out adding a veteran.

“We do feel like [we’ve] got a good room there, but obviously we’re always looking to upgrade our roster as we go, and so it may happen.”

Carr made the surprising decision to medically retire last weekend.

“Upon reflection of prayer, and in discussion with [Carr’s wife] Heather, I’ve decided to retire from the National Football League,” Carr said in a statement on the team’s website on May 10. “For more than 11 years, we have been incredibly blessed, and we are forever grateful and humbled by this experience. 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. Your unwavering support has meant the world to us.”