{"id":150718,"date":"2026-02-09T09:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=150718"},"modified":"2026-02-09T09:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T09:09:11","slug":"steelers-just-got-handed-a-lifeline-from-new-orleans-shocking-veteran-qb-link-explodes-as-pittsburgh-eyes-saints-star-to-save-their-season-after-total-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=150718","title":{"rendered":"STEELERS JUST GOT HANDED A LIFELINE FROM NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Shocking Veteran QB Link Explodes as Pittsburgh Eyes Saints Star to Save Their Season After Total Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\" data-lead-image=\"true\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Pittsburgh Steelers helmet before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_558,w_8256,h_4644\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/saints_news_network\/01kgzngsdbk18n5hr3t6.jpg\" alt=\"Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Pittsburgh Steelers helmet before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images\" width=\"8256\" height=\"4644\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-4 ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-grey font-group-tiny\" data-lead-image=\"true\">Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Pittsburgh Steelers helmet before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\">Last offseason, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr shocked the football world when he announced that he was going to retire because of a crippling shoulder injury.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\">The Saints quickly moved on to Tyler Shough as their franchise quarterback and they haven&#8217;t looked back. But the idea that Carr could come out of retirement began making its way around the NFL world.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\">On Sunday, multiple reports confirmed that Carr would consider a return to the NFL if the situation was right. This likely won&#8217;t come with the Saints, but there are some teams that could use him.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\"><em>If you like our content,\u00a0<\/em>choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\">USA Today&#8217;s Joe Rivera recently suggested the Pittsburgh Steelers and newly signed head coach Mike McCarthy could be a potential landing spot for Carr if he comes out of retirement.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-5\">Steelers make sense for Derek Carr if he comes out of retirement<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_6643,h_3736\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/saints_news_network\/01kgznhq3b3nrcd3f9r5.jpg\" alt=\"New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Car\" \/><\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Dec 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) walks the field before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\">&#8220;With Mike McCarthy landing in Pittsburgh, a rumored reunion between him and former Green Bay Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been floated,&#8221; Rivera wrote. &#8220;If Rodgers decides to call it a career, though, Carr could be another option while the\u00a0Steelers\u00a0look for their elusive long-term successor to Ben Roethlisberger.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\">&#8220;McCarthy has plenty of regular-season success and a Super Bowl ring to show for it. Now with the Steelers, it&#8217;ll be on the veteran coach to find the answer at quarterback. For now, in a division that&#8217;s in flux with the departures of John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski and the entrance of Todd Monken, Carr might be a shot in the arm for an offense that was among the league&#8217;s most middling in 2026.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\">The Steelers are seemingly looking to win now. They&#8217;ve made it quite apparent that they don&#8217;t want to enter a big rebuild under McCarthy, which is why another year of Aaron Rodgers would make sense.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\">But if Rodgers doesn&#8217;t return, going after Carr would work, too.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\">Carr is a much better option for the Steelers than any quarterback they could land in this year&#8217;s NFL Draft. Carr is also a better option than Will Howard or Mason Rudolph. As a result, McCarthy and the Steelers could target Carr, at least as a bridge quarterback, to keep them relevant in the AFC.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\">The fit makes sense, but only time will tell what Carr decides to do.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Pittsburgh Steelers helmet before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | Barry&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-150718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>STEELERS JUST GOT HANDED A LIFELINE FROM NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Shocking Veteran QB Link Explodes as Pittsburgh Eyes Saints Star to Save Their Season After Total Chaos - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=150718\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STEELERS JUST GOT HANDED A LIFELINE FROM NEW ORLEANS \u2013 Shocking Veteran QB Link Explodes as Pittsburgh Eyes Saints Star to Save Their Season After Total Chaos - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; A Pittsburgh Steelers helmet before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium. 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