Lions should call the Saints about perfect trade after Derek Carr's retirement

On Saturday of Mother's Day weekend, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr suddenly announced his retirement due a significant shoulder injury. Now, the stage is set for a one of the lamest quarterback competitions we'll see as rookie Tyler Shough, second-year man Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener compete to be the starter in New Orleans.

Shough is the easy favorite to win the job, as the Saints possibly enter a season where they'll quietly tank. Rattler seems like genuine competition, but Haener is little more than a camp arm.

When Carr's situation turned tenuous last month, before Shough was drafted, it was easy to put the Saints somewhere in the market for a quarterback. Among those possible options, the idea they could call the Detroit Lions about Hendon Hooker was out there a bit.

Dating back to last offseason, the Lions have shown increasing signals they don't fully trust Hooker to step in and play if he had to in a meaningful game. Bringing back Teddy Bridgewater late last season, and elevating him over Hooker as the No. 2 quarterback for the playoff game against the Washington Commanders, was the straw the broke that camel's back. It also crushed a good bit of the trade value Hooker might have.

The Saints are easy option for the Lions to offload Hendon Hooker after Derek Carr's retirement

During the 2023 pre-draft process, which yielded interest from a number of teams despite his having suffered a torn ACL late in his final college season, the Saints showed a lot of interest in Hooker. The Lions surprisingly took him at No. 68 overall, with the Saints left holding the proverbial bag if they were planning to take him three picks later.

Hooker was an older draft prospect, and he's now 27 years old with nine regular season pass attempts on his resume. The Saints arguably just took a replica of that, since Shough is also on the older side (25, 26 in September) entering the NFL after a seven-year college journey. That said, the same front office that coveted Hooker during the pre-draft process two years ago is still in place.

Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports has offered the following trade proposal sending Hooker to the Saints in the wake of Carr's retirement.

Lions get: 2026 sixth-round pick
Saints get: Hendon Hooker

The Lions' experiment with Hooker is over, and it had no viable end game anyway with a steadfast commitment to Jared Goff as the quarterback for the foreseeable future. So it's now about getting what you can in a trade if an opportunity strikes, and with that in mind there is no better option than the Saints right now as they navigate a tough situation.