T
he Cincinnati Bengals pulled off a big trade with the Cleveland Browns last week in an attempt to save their season. After star Joe Burrow went down with an injury in week two, the Bengals were left scrambling to find a replacement who could keep them afloat in Burrow’s absence. Turning to backup, Jake Browning, the Bengals struggled mightily and their 2-0 start quickly turned into 2-3. Soon after, the team traded for Joe Flacco, giving them a seasoned veteran under center.
But Flacco was not the Bengals’ first choice to replace the injured Burrow. Before making the trade with the Browns, the Bengals called about the availability of recently retired quarterback, Derek Carr.
Carr to the Bengals?
The Bengals made sure to do their due diligence before acquiring Flacco, looking at numerous other players to sign. And according to Carr’s brother, David, he was among the players that the Bengals were interested in bringing in. But because of several factors, including the looming presence of Burrow, Carr opted to stay retired instead.
“Derek would like to be in a situation that obviously is a team that really needs a guy to come in and take em’ (for) the long haul,” David said. “There’s a feeling that maybe Joe Burrow might come back at some point this year — at least try to come back. I don’t know if Derek would feel comfortable being in a situation where say he was to enter in a team situation where the quarterback was hurt and he drove them all the way in, they got into the playoffs, and then he had to go sit on the sidelines.”
Carr retired from the NFL in May of this year due longstanding pain in his right shoulder caused by a labral tear and other conditions. While the announcement was considered a surprise, Carr did not want to keep playing if he was not performing at the high level he was accustomed to. And while Carr is happy in retirement, he is still training and staying ready in case a return to the NFL becomes feasible.
Could Carr Come Back?
Carr says that his shoulder does not feel good enough to play but his statistics from the last two seasons prove that he is still very good at football. In his first season with the New Orleans Saints in 2023, Carr played in all 17 games– completing 68.4% of his passes for 3,878 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Last season, despite playing in only 10 games, Carr completed 67.7% of his passes for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions– posting his best passer rating since 2020 at 101.0.
And when speaking on Carr’s status about possibly coming back, David said that even though he is enjoying retirement, Carr is ready to play at a moment’s notice if it is a good situation.
“I think that if a scenario shows itself, which historically those have popped up, and obviously God forbid you don’t want a quarterback on a team that is a contender to go down, but this stuff happens, so Derek will definitely be ready if that situation arises,” David said.
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