It’s the era of unretiring quarterbacks within the NFL, apparently. Though we’ve seen it from other positions, as well (most notably tight ends — Jason Witten, Rob Gronkowski, Darren Waller), quarterbacks appear to be probably the most notorious culprits of twiddling with the emotions of their fans.
Brett Favre retired with the Packers before coming back to play and retire with the Jets before coming back to play and retire with the Vikings. Favre’s first retirement lasted about 4 months before he asked the Packers for his release; his second lasted just over two months before the Jets let him go. Tom Brady retired after two seasons with the Buccaneers before announcing, 40 days later, that he would return for an additional yr. Essentially the most notorious — and egregious — example got here to us this past season when Philip Rivers made a comeback for the Colts nearly five years after initially hanging up his cleats.
That’s what made it unsurprising, at this point, when reports sprouted up last week that former Raiders and Saints quarterback Derek Carr could consider returning to play in 2026 after retiring last yr. As Carr handled a shoulder injury and the potential need for surgery, it was announced that he can be hanging it up. Initial reports indicated that Carr was “extremely unlikely” to unretire, but he had called across the league to gauge interest before making the choice and, eventually, began to vary his tune. When each the Bengals and Colts got here calling, though, Carr remained retired, not yet getting coaxed out of unemployment.
Then, last week’s reports got here out, and in an installment of Carr’s Home Grown podcast that he hosts along with his brother, David Carr, on Thursday, Derek confirmed the reports that unretirement was a possible consideration. “Would I do it? Yes,” Carr communicated to his brother and listeners. “Would I do it for anybody? Absolutely not. I’d need to be healthy, and I’d need a probability to win a Super Bowl, and clearly, that’s a tricky thing to search out. That’s hard to do. That’s demanding.”
The 34-year-old passer looked as if it would indicate that health will not be a difficulty at this time limit and, perhaps, alluded to the contender-status requirement being the rationale he didn’t unretire for the Bengals and Colts last yr, saying he “needed to say ‘no’ a pair times, up to now.”
The Bengals had shown in 2024 that even with Joe Burrow playing at an MVP level, their defense kept them from even making the playoffs, and while the Colts looked just like the team to beat within the AFC after a 7-1 begin to the season, cracks had already began to seem even before Daniel Jones went down with a season-ending injury. Indianapolis lost three of its last 4 games with Jones at quarterback with the one win coming in time beyond regulation over the Falcons.
It’s unclear, then, exactly what the scenario would want to appear to be for him to noticeably consider returning to the sector. One would assume that perennial quarterback-hungry teams just like the Jets, Raiders, or Browns wouldn’t entice him to unretire.
Other teams with potential quarterback openings may very well be the Dolphins, Steelers, Colts, Vikings, Falcons, and Cardinals. It’s hard to argue any of those teams are necessarily a Derek Carr away from winning all of it, however the situation Carr could also be on the lookout for may very well be one wherein an expected title contender loses their passer and is on the lookout for a veteran to hold them to the finish line, à la Nick Foles in 2017.
Regardless, the choice appears to be on the table and, given the return of the 44-year-old Rivers last yr, it could remain on the table for years to come back. It only stays to be seen whether or not the celebs will align for Carr to dust off his cleats and see in the event that they still fit.