This is shaping up to be a historic offseason of quarterback movement, as Matthew Stafford has already been dealt, and Carson Wentz, Deshaun Watson, and Sam Darnold might not be too far behind. There haven’t been any concrete trade rumors regarding Raiders QB Derek Carr this year, but it sounds like that could change soon.
According to Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, rival clubs have been calling the Raiders to gauge their interest in dealing Carr, and Vegas is at least willing to entertain those discussions. The caveat is that the Raiders would want to replace Carr with a passer of similar quality, though that probably would need to happen in a separate transaction. Unless Carr somehow becomes involved in a trade for Watson, no other QBs that could be on the move are as valuable as Carr at the moment.
The Raiders narrowly missed the playoffs in 2020, but that had more to do with their defense than their offense. Vegas was a top-10 unit both in terms of total offense and in points per game, and Carr set a new career-high with a 101.4 QB rating. His 4,103 passing yards were also a personal best, and he threw 27 TDs against just nine picks.
The soon-to-be 30-year-old is under contract through 2022, and his salaries in each of the last two years of his deal are just shy of $20MM, a relative bargain. So while the club would surely be able to get a terrific return if it traded Carr, its status as a potential playoff contender suggests that such a deal might not be something you want to bet your house on.
Indeed, the NFL.com trio goes on to say that the Raiders, who just handed Nathan Peterman a $1MM guarantee for 2021, are open to trading either Carr or Marcus Mariota, and it would seem that Mariota is a much likelier candidate to be moved. Perhaps there will be some discussion on that front once the dust settles on Wentz, Watson, and Darnold.
Still, the fact that the Raiders are willing to engage in talks involving Carr when they have firmly rebuffed any such overtures in the past few years is notable, especially at a time when the trade market is chock-full of interesting signal-callers.
Why do these stories/rumors come up every year? At this point in time Carr is a borderline top 10 QB and has played better every year under Gruden. Is there anyone out there who is available (Watson) who can run spider two banana any better? Literally who else? And does dumping multiple future assets and doubling your spending on a QB make the raiders Super Bowl contenders? I don’t think so. Watson is not going to fix the defense or the red zone play calling.
Do you suppose this is Gruden floating this or other teams who want Carr who are putting these rumors out there?
Maybe just desperate “journalists” looking for something to write about. Referring to those who initially report these “rumors,” of course.
Come on, man! It’s Spider 2 Y Banana! Lol
This again? Who is the upgrade? And how would the Raiders fix that defense without any picks to acquire desperately needed defensive players?
The defense will get fixed, but not until at least the midway point of the season. Whenever Denver fires Vic Fangio, he must be hired as the new DC at whatever the cost is. He will fix the defense even if he only has scraps to work with.
This is a result of the Stafford trade. After the Lions got a haul for a QB that isn’t even in the same conversation as Carr, you have to at least be curious in the stupid offers that may come. I don’t think there’s a scenario where the Raiders end up upgrading at QB or in general, so it is a lame topic.
Isn’t even in the same conversation? I’d put those two in the exact same conversation
Stafford is definitely in the same tier of passers than Carr is. The hell?
If Gruden feels comfortable in having Mariota run the offense, it may be worth trading Carr in order to save money and gain draft capital.
If Gruden feels comfortable with Mariota running his offense, he needs his head examined. Either that or he better prepare himself for a full rebuild and tanking in 2021.
Don’t be stupid, Trade the needest QB in starter history .
Get everything we can for Carr , build a defense, add more OL talent . Any of our QB’s can get us to 8-8 with the fire power we have, and Gruden spreading the ball around with his calls, Keeping defenses off balance . Carr don’t like to call a audible that extends the ball in his hands . That’s where Mariota is better for this team ! And I don’t like Carr’s leadership , he had something to do with the 2017 collapse after he signed his big contract . In the Playoffs , Carr will be a pig skin donor , and throw the INT’s to send a better team home .
He’ll handle the playoff pressure like Carson Palmer, a big game pig skin donor !
You want Marcus Mariota in there instead of Carr? I hate to break this to you, but Mariota at his peak (2016, 2017; in other words, five years ago) was nowhere near as good as Carr is right now. Mariota steadily declined and lost his job since then, too.
Raiders problem is defense. They gave up the third most points in the league. Swapping out Carr for Mariota makes them much worse.
Carr is a full blown fake, he’s a politician in his speak, and the way he plays .
He get’s his completions , his stats , against losing teams, and against prevent defenses , against winning teams .
Carr in every game will complete passes for 1st downs on 3rd downs , or even 1st & 2nd downs , but he didn’t see the TD else where . He’s a career 47 – 63 QB who’s always had a good OL, and decent talent , he should be at least 55 -55 if he was a player .
Mariota could actually use all the excuses so called Raiders fans give Carr at the teams expense .
Mariota always had a weak OL , limited talent around him .
But he made a deep playoff run , beat KC in KC !
It’s Destiny , If we hang onto Carr, Mariota will take his job in camp . This yr Marcus Mariota will be uninjured , and full knowledge of the playbook .
The players will know the difference , so will Carr & Gruden .
Highly doubt Peterman would lead you to an 8-8 record. He’s trash
Carr is a good QB. Trading him would be a stupid mistake. They’re not winning with Marcus. He looked good for one game because the defense wasn’t prepared for him. You give an opponent a week to scheme for him and it’ll be Tennessee all over again.
I won’t even waste the time on elaborating on why Peterman is a huge downgrade. He is.
Besides, they could get fifty firsts for Carr… It doesn’t matter. This regime can’t draft. That’s probably mostly Gruden, but it’s evident. They selected Ruggs over more talented players. They selected Ferrell over more talented players.
You keep the quality QB you have. As a Raider fan I’ll be irate if they dump Carr for picks.
Who would I take over Carr:
Mahomes
Wilson
Rodgers
J Allen
Watson
I’d consider:
Kyler
Lamar
Herbert
Lawrence
Am I missing anyone?
Realistic options is what you’re missing.
Carr is the worst thing a quarterback can be – inconsistent. You just never know which guy is going to step on the field – the guy who will throw four touchdown passes, or the guy who over-throws/under-throws wide open receivers all night.
These rumors have been chasing Carr since he got in the league. The issue is defense. The Raiders shouldn’t fix something that isn’t broken. What is broken is all this journalism.
Bro,
You are OUT OF YOUR MIND… NO QB is going to make the playoffs with a defense as bad as ours. You ever see a playoff team with the 30th ranked d? The answer is NO. The ONLY time Carr even had a top 20 D ( 20th to be exact but it counts) was in 2016… and guess what happened? He went 12-2 and was the leading MVP candidate before getting his leg broke in a game he should have already been pulled from. Carr is THE LAST of our problems. We need to make that defense remotely respectable before we start worrying about the offense. Offense was top 10 – Mariota would not even come CLOSE to that mark over a season. You’re Delusional if you think otherwise. It was a MIRACLE we finished 8-8 with how crappy our d was. Bring in whoever you want at QB but with a 30th ranked defense we aren’t making the playoffs. PERIOD.