Why Derek Carr turned down $30 million to retire

Derek Carr might be the most noble man in football. The former Saints and Raiders quarterback told Front Office Sports in an interview this week that part of his decision to retire was related to not wanting to just get a big check from the Saints. “That part was tough because I didn’t want to have surgery and just sit there and — it sounds crazy but —just take the Saints money,” Carr said. The QB retired in early May and gave up $30 million by opting against having surgery to repair a shoulder injury that would have forced him to miss all of the 2025 season. Carr had two years left on his four-year, $150 million deal he signed in 2023 with New Orleans. The 34-year-old explained that he wanted to do the “right thing” by the Saints. “I wouldn’t have been able to play if I had the surgery,” Carr said.“And then if I tried to play with it, I wasn’t near 100 percent, and so that doesn’t help them, either.

I just felt like it was the right thing to do for myself and for the team.”Carr did keep a $10 million roster bonus that he received in March, according to FOS, but the quarterback’s motives for playing have never been solely about money. And he joked that he has heard from a “whole bunch of people” tell him that he was “crazy.” “That’s all cool, but I’ve gained all these things that the world has to offer, and it doesn’t really do anything for your heart.I knew my heart was at peace, and that’s really all that mattered,” Carr said. Carr played 11 years in the NFL, spending nine with the Raiders organization and the last two with the Saints. He threw for 4,1245 yards and 257 touchdowns over the course of his career.

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