Kellen Mond Has More Dirt on the Vikings

He must be referring to October 2023, when Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles, and Minnesota scrambled via trade to find an emergency midseason solution. Former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah ultimately found Joshua Dobbs from the Arizona Cardinals. But per Mond, the Vikings poked around Carr’s availability, who played for the Saints at the time.

It remains unclear how Mond knows the factoid; he left the Vikings during the summer of 2022.

Carr’s Possible Unretirement

Carr, indeed, wants back in. NFL.com’s Kevin Patra wrote this week, “Derek Carr announced his retirement from the Saints last spring due to a labral tear in his rotator cuff. The QB’s injury could have been repaired by surgery, but it would have put his ability to play last season in jeopardy. With that reality hanging overhead, the Saints and the QB agreed on a retirement pact.”

“Heading into an offseason with a questionable available quarterback pool, Derek Carr’s name has piqued interest around the NFL. NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported on Sunday that Carr could unretire in 2026, provided the right situation and coaching staff materialized.”

Carr was then asked on his brother David’s podcast about unretirement, and he replied, “Would I do it? Yes. Would I do it for anybody? Absolutely not. Would I do it? Absolutely, I would.”

“I told you two things: I have to be healthy, and I’d want a chance to win a Super Bowl. And obviously, that’s a tough thing to find. That’s hard to do. That’s not easy.”

He’s basically telling the masses that he wants to be signed by a contender.

Connection to the Vikings

How did the Vikings immediately wiggle into the conversation? Easy — they might be the only team this offseason that needs a quarterback alternative to be on the doorstep of a playoff push.

These teams need or may need a quarterback this offseason:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Atlanta Falcons
• Cleveland Browns
• Indianapolis Colts
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Miami Dolphins
• Minnesota Vikings
• New York Jets
• Pittsburgh Steelers

If Daniel Jones re-signs in Indianapolis and Aaron Rodgers re-ups with Mike McCarthy’s Steelers, that would leave the Vikings as Carr’s one spot to contend for the playoffs and Super Bowl in 2026. The Vikings won nine games in 2025 with the league’s fifth-worst quarterback play (EPA per play). Kevin O’Connell’s team can probably get right back on the horse if it finds or develops a competent quarterback.

So, yes — most Carr unretirement theories boil down to the Colts, Steelers, and Vikings.

explaining, “The Cardinals are seemingly ready to move on from Kyler Murray, but they don’t have another franchise option. They could turn to Jacoby Brissett, but there’s only so much upside in that idea. As a result, adding Carr could make a bit of sense. If he’s healthy and good to go, he would be an upgrade over Brissett.”

“This would give the Cardinals a chance to compete while they search for their next franchise quarterback. It would also depend on whether Carr is willing to play for the Cardinals. He might not want to come out of retirement if he doesn’t see a real route to the Super Bowl with his next team.”

A Verdict in Mere Weeks

Thankfully, for those curious about the Carr sweepstakes, a verdict from a Vikings standpoint isn’t far away. Free agency kicks off with “legal tampering” on Monday, March 9th — about three weeks from now — and if Carr is somehow the purple plan at quarterback, the trade details will come to life.

go back to LinkedIn, posting his anti-Rick Spielman and anti-Mike Zimmer threads that are so popular.

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