Derek Carr’s career with the Raiders could already be over.
The Raiders are planning to start Jarrett Stidham in place of Carr against the 49ers, head coach Josh McDaniels announced. Carr will be inactive against San Francisco with Chase Garbers slated to be Stidham’s backup.
Before the news became official, multiple reports indicated that a benching could spell the end of Carr’s nine-year tenure with the Raiders.
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“If the Raiders sit Derek Carr Sunday, it will be the fourth game he misses in nine seasons and the first not due to injury,” Vic Tafur, who covers the Raiders for The Athletic, tweeted on Wednesday.
“His salary of $33 million next year and $7.5 million in 2024 becomes guaranteed if he gets hurt, and front office met last two nights to decide on course of action.”
While it’s possible Carr would have some trade value, ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio wrote that a benching would be a “clear precursor” for a release given that Carr’s $40 million due in 2023 vests at the same time a trade would become allowed at the start of the new league year.
Therefore, if a team agreed to trade for Carr but later backed out, the Raiders would be stuck holding the bag.
McDaniels acknowledged that Carr’s time with the team could be finished.
“There’s a lot to be sorted through once the season is over,” the coach told reporters on Wednesday.
Carr has thrown 14 interceptions, the most in the NFL this season, and threw three in the Raiders’ loss to the Steelers this past week.
The Raiders (6-9) have disappointed this season in McDaniels’ first year on the job. They’ve lost four games in which they were leading by 10 or more at halftime.
If the Raiders do move on from Carr, it would be a massive change of guard, as he’s been their primary starting quarterback since 2014.
It could also open up the potential for Tom Brady to make the move to Vegas, should he opt to continue playing next season as is expected at this stage.
The San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints have been suggested as two potential landing spots for Brady should he leave Tampa Bay, with a New England reunion also floated.
The Raiders though would make plenty of sense too given Brady’s connection with longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
It would also make it much easier for the Raiders to keep star wideout Davante Adams, who made the move from Green Bay to Vegas partly for the chance to play with Carr.
There would be concerns Adams could try to force his way out should Vegas begin a rebuild with Carr moved on.
Writing for Sports Illustratedon Thursday, NFL reporter Albert Breer described a potential move for Brady as a “leap of faith” for Vegas.
“And if Carr is traded or released? The two obvious options for the Raiders would be Jimmy Garoppolo and Tom Brady,” Breer wrote.
“… The latter would be one heck of a leap of faith in the state of a roster that didn’t perform as well as the team brass thought it would this year.
“That said, the idea that Garoppolo or Brady could land in Vegas is very much on my radar.”
— with the New York Post
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