He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL).
He ranked eighth among all players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 335.18 yards of total offense per game.
[6] In November 2011, Carder was responsible for eight touchdowns (seven passing and one rushing) in a 66–63 loss to the Toledo Rockets.
[11] His NFL.com Draft profile states that "If teams are willing to look past his senior season, and if Carder performs well enough in the postseason process, he could be a late-round pick.
"[12] After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft, Carder was signed on April 27 as an unrestricted free agent by the Detroit Lions.
[19] After playing in parts of 3 games, and completing 2 of 3 passes for 19 yards, Carder was placed on other league exempt on June 9, 2014.
[25] Carder was selected by the Guangzhou Power in the nineteenth round of the 2016 CAFL Draft and was the backup to J. J. Raterink during the 2016 season.