Tyler Shough, has decided to retire from the National Football League after 11 years. His 2025 season after he suffered a broken left hand and oblique injury in Week 14. In the process of preparing for the upcoming 2025 campaign, Carr suffered a labral tear in his right (throwing) shoulder that forced him to hang it up. He finishes his career with 41,245 passing yards, 257 touchdown passes and a combined 2,539.5
Carr’s retirement confirms what we all were expecting — the Saints quarterback position is up for grabs heading into next season, and there are obvious fantasy football implications.
The current favorite to be the Saints’ new starting field general appears to be rookie Tyler Shough, a second-round pick out of Louisville in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, new head coach Kellen Moore has said that Shough, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener will all rotate in and out with the first-team offense during training camp and in the preseason.
Before we get into the fantasy impact, here are a few facts on Shough.
First off, he’s going to be 26 in September, so he’s older than most rookies. Shough started his collegiate career in 2018 at Oregon. He played just 15 combined games with the Ducks before moving on to Texas Tech. Shough went on to play just 15 games in three years with the Red Raiders due to a combination of shoulder (collarbone) and leg injuries.
Shough’s final collegiate season came with the Cardinals, throwing for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns in 12 games. He also recorded a 62.7 completion percentage. Shough graded out as the fifth-best FBS field general with at least 300 drop backs based on PFF data, too.
If we assume that Shough wins the starting job, he’ll obviously see his stock in superflex leagues rise. His dynasty value also rose the second Carr retired, but again, he’s almost 26. That limits his long-term league appeal. What’s more, I still don’t see him being selected in 10- or 12-team redraft leagues at a deep position.
The bigger fantasy impact of Carr’s absence will come at running back, wide receiver and tight end. Moore is likely to lean on Alvin Kamara, who should see plenty of touches, to take some pressure off the future starting quarterback. I’m not moving him in my RB rankings.
Fantasy fans do have to be somewhat worried about how an inexperienced quarterback will affect the likes of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Brandin Cooks, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau are also in the offense, but none of them will be prominent targets in drafts. Before we obliterate Olave and Shaheed, let’s remember that a good receiver can shine in the stat sheets without a high-end quarterback … look at what Malik Nabers did in 2024.
