If you’ve followed the website over the years, you know RaidersBeat.com isn’t the hot spot on the web for internet feuds. Whether it’s the pages in print or the social media feeds, brawling over the interwebs won’t ever be our trademark.
With that said, we love to give credit where it’s due and on Friday night ESPN’s Dan Graziano offered a quote in a column that was deserving of attention. It was a small detail, but it was one that local and national media have been hammering at for months and rarely, if ever, face any kind of accountability.
For whatever reason, the narrative that Jon Gruden is unhappy with Derek Carr, or is looking to move on at quarterback, simply won’t rest. Certainly Gruden is unpredictable, but after not drafting a quarterback in any of the draft’s seven rounds, is now not a time we can finally agree that Carr is the unquestioned quarterback of the Raiders in 2019?
Gradziano believes that’s “basically” the case, adding that Carr “gets to be” the quarterback for one more year – nearly implying the opportunity is a gift Carr hasn’t earned.
Those words were passed along on our twitter feed and Graziano would quickly show frustration that no link was included to his work and only one quote was handpicked from his 5,000-word article. So here is the link to his full literary masterpiece.
Notably, only about 120 of those words were used on the Raiders:
“Carr’s 2019 salary of $19.9 million became fully guaranteed in February, but there’s nothing guaranteed beyond this season, and the dead-money hit if the Raiders cut or trade him next offseason is a manageable $5 million.
What this means is that this is the big season for Carr and his future with the soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders. They didn’t draft a quarterback last month, which basically ensures that Carr gets to be the starter in 2019. But if he struggles and Jon Gruden falls in love with a quarterback in the 2020 draft, it wouldn’t be hard for the Raiders to make the switch.”
It wasn’t a full-fledged assault on Carr, but after reading for this long about Gruden’s inclination to move on from Carr, it might be a nice change of pace to acknowledge the Raiders are all-in on their quarterback for this season – and not as an act of charity or because there were no other options.
And if your opinion happens to be different than that, at least be willing to stand up and take the heat for someone crediting your work.
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