The team announced Saturday that New Orleans Saints starting quarterback Derek Carr retired from a cleavage of his right shoulder and a "major sex change" to his shoulder cuff.

Carr, 34, has been in 11 professional seasons since he selected Fresno State from Fresno State at the time.Auckland Raiders In the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

He was acquired by the Saints as a free agent in 2023, but New Orleans also had a different result, with him 14-13 as the starter while his obliques, hands and head injuries, which led him to miss seven games last season.

Carr entered his third year of a four-year, $150 million contract, and his shoulder throwing was unexpectedly painful as he began his own training in the offseason. This led to the diagnosis, which now shortened his career.

"Surgery is an option that endangers the entire 2025 season, but there is no guarantee that Derek will return to the strength, function and performance level of habit," the Saints said in a written announcement.

The Saints didn't admit Carl's injury until the day before the NFL draft in late April this year. It was not until a few days later that Carl spoke publicly about the injury, when he held a guest sermon at the Las Vegas Church. Carl said in that sermon that his critics were “lying” when they questioned the abnormal timing of the injury, and the initial implicitness of the team and Carl to openly resolve it or answer questions about it.

Carl's total professional passes were 41,245 yards, 257 touchdowns and 112 interceptions. The four-time professional Bowler retired with a regular season record of 77-92 and was 0-1 in the playoffs.

Carl said he made a decision in consultation with his wife Heather and “reflected on prayer.”

“For more than a decade, we have been fortunately grateful and humbled by this experience,” Carl said. “It’s hard to find the right word to thank all our teammates, coaches, management, ownership, team officials, and especially the fans who have made this journey so special.”

Carl added: "I slept well and knew I gave it to my teammates, coaches and my city."

The decision also came up with New Orleans, entering his first season as coach by Kellen Moore, who used the high second-round draft pick to pick Louisville's Tyler Shoough.

Now, he knew Carl's decision before he was practicing at Rookie Camp on Saturday, and he would have a chance to compete for a starting job.

"All I want is an opportunity," said Hoff, 26, who spent seven years at the college level, starting with Oregon and Texas Tech. "I've been craving for playing in my career because I'm injured. I used to be a backup, I'm a starter. So, I know a lot of these characters and looks, and I think I can work well in any of them."

He added: “I’m so excited about that opportunity to go out and prove myself.”

Other QBs on the Saints’ roster include sophomore Pro Spencer Rattler and third-year player Jake Haener, who did not win between them in seven games last season, with six of them starting.

Carl's retirement "will provide some of these young quarterbacks with an opportunity to prepare from a representative perspective and an opportunity perspective," Moore said. "Obviously, these guys will be ready for it and fired."

Moore is not contracted for the possibility of bringing established veteran QB through free agency.

"We'll definitely realize that," Moore said. "If the opportunity arises, we're ready."

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966, only 12 quarterbacks who were not selected in the first round began their season rookies. One of them is Carl. The other is Dak Prescott of the 2016 Cowboys, when Moore was Dallas's reserve QB.

Prescott is “apparently a fourth-round draft pick and may not be expected to be a starter that year,” Moore also coached Prescott as a QBS coach in Dallas in 2018 and as offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022. “These people all come from different paths.”