Derek Carr shocked the NFL world on Saturday by announcing his retirement from the league amid suffering a shoulder injury that would have required surgery this offseason.

The whole situation of his shoulder surgery has been an interesting one as it was first seen as "trade bait" for Carr revealing he had the injury this spring before the NFL draft. Then, the quarterback confirmed the injury during a sermon he gave at his church a few weeks ago. He shared then that he has been in constant communication with the New Orleans Saints throughout the whole process.

Saints coach Kellen Moore verified this by expressing gratitude for Carr and his team on Saturday for remaining in great communication with him and the team over the past few months while they sorted out his shoulder injury and eventually his decision to retire.

"It was really good communication through the whole process as far as navigating this," Moore told reporters on Saturday. "Again, challenging circumstances with him being injured at the end of the year and just kind of navigating things throughout the whole offseason process. I think Derek, the people that are part of his life communicated really well with the Saints. I think they've been really good with communication. I think it went the right way."

In the Saints' statement on Carr's retirement, the team revealed that the medical team discovered a lateral tear and, "significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff." The surgery that he plans to undergo would've sidelined him for all of 2025, which was hinted at before, and there was "no guarantee Derek would return to the level of strength, function and performance of play to which he was accustomed." It's clear by Moore's statement that the Saints were aware of all of this before Carr's decision to retire.

The Saints also seemingly knew about Carr at least missing the 2025 season when they chose to draft Tyler Shough a few weeks ago in the second round. He will be in a starting quarterback competition along with Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener, Moore confirmed on Saturday.

So, even though Carr's decision to retirement came as a shock to the NFL world, the Saints weren't left in the dark about it.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Saints HC Kellen Moore Praises Derek Carr's Communication Before Sudden Retirement.

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