One of Jon Gruden’s former players has a little advice for Gruden on what he should do with Marcus Mariota.
“I’m certainly not giving up my backup quarterback given the opportunity for him if Derek Carr starts to struggle, especially on the number that [the Raiders] got him at,” Johnson said Friday on his ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill, and Zubin.
“He’s got backup money. He doesn’t have starter money. We’re paying him at a premium as a backup in the league. But if you’re willing to surrender a late second-round pick or something along those lines, then maybe we can have that conversation because it makes sense. I’m not willing to give up a guy just because you think you want him. You had a chance to sign him in free agency last year and you (the Bears) elected not to, because you trade for Nick Foles. So that’s on you.”
Even with the market desperate for starting quarterbacks, it would be a stretch to think the Raiders could get a second-round pick for Mariota. But to Keyshawn’s point, Gruden shouldn’t be content to give him away, either.
The Raiders paid $10 million to have Mariota as a backup last year and he looked good in the three quarters he played against the Chargers. The cost to keep him next year would be marginally more than this year. The real difference now is that the team (and rest of the league) knows Mariota can still play at a high level.
If no one is willing to offer at least a mid-round pick for Mariota, the Raiders should do what they can to keep Mariota’s $10.725 million contract on the books until at least training camp. Maybe an injury to a quarterback in training camp would push a team to make an aggressive trade for Mariota. If not, maybe the Raiders consider carrying a top backup for another year. The Eagles certainly didn’t regret taking that approach in 2017.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Oh, you mean the year that the backup quarterback, Nick Foles, won the Super Bowl after the starter Carson Wentz went down to injury? Well, as we all know, Jon Gruden’s “solution” to an inadverdent injury to Derek Carr is resigning the statistically absolutely worst quarterback in NFL history, Nathan Peterman. Apparently, Jon Gruden believes that, under his tutelage, he has “resurrected” Nathan Peterman’s career. Hopefully, he, Jon Gruden has had better success with resurrecting Nathan Peterman’s career than he has had with improving the Raiders’ won / loss record.
Braddah Marcus , ‘STOP’ Being that Nice Guy (HAWAIIAN ) Go to somewhere You will ve appreciated and play out the remaindwe of your PRO FOOTBALL CAREER . Then go gome and Remember that you were The First Local Boy HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER that Represented Hawai’i with Class and Dignity , Good Job , Fa’
Exactly my thoughts, Keyshawn! Carr has been great…BUT…as we’ve seen, defenses are now keying on hurting quarterbacks, and Carr is not a young pup anymore! Focus on defense, and we’ll be even better next year! Don’t sacrifice a good backup qb!
I say do everything you can to sign Mariota this might be the year Derek Carr gets hurt there goes our season again gruden has to make a good decision for once keep Mariota let him compete in training camp
Carr isn’t a young pup. He’s in his prime! He is going to have another solid season. He is the glue that keeps the team together. He is only 30. He owns the offense. Keep Mariota another year for sure. He’s a bargin.
Does he tackle anyone???
Does the defense have ANYONE who can tackle?
Carr posts, people forget one year he had two broken bones in his vertebrae and he missed 1 game. Back in 2016 Carr was prepared to play in the divisional round had the Raiders advanced. This year a groin injury kept him out of the lineup for exactly 3 quarters! Mariota had 3 very good quarters against LA no doubt but that was a result of the Chargers lack of preparation for him leading up to the game. Teams can stop Mariota as they started to when he eventually lost his job in Tennessee, when they have time to game plan for him. I’d absolutely take a 3rd or 4th round pick for Mariota, despite what Keyshawn says. Good players in those middle rounds that will help the Raiders more than Mariota will long term
Carr is a coward.
Since his numerous injuries he’s afraid of being hit.
He’s not the guy.
Never has been, never will be.
Probably the most ridiculously stupid comment made EVER!!!!!!
I’m not a big fan of Carr but Carr is not the problem on this team. It’s our defense , Carr has never had a defense better then 20. No QB can win with that number at defense.
when YOU spend your Sundays running around looking for someone to get open, while Avon Miller or Joey Bosa are looking to take your head off, you get to call a guy who played with a broken back a coward..
Bingo. I agree 100% Roger. Carr puts up nice stats in the first half of the year, then chokes when we need him most. Gives up on plays. No pocket presence. Fumbles every time he’s touched. He panics. He’s a very good athlete, but doesn’t want to use it. He improved as a runner in 2020, but why does it take Mariota on the squad and 3 years of begging from Gruden for him to do so? I think, no matter what he says, he’s fine with losing, and his desire to win and get the most of every play is sorely lacking. Staying clean is more important than winning. I’ve seen him let go of the ball just to break his own fall. He IS a coward. Certainly not a Raider. This fan of nearly 50 years wants him gone.
Double Bingo!! You said it all James. This fan of 40 years agrees 100%.
People obsess over Carr’s stats, and that’s the aspect of the game that he’s focused on as well. However, if QB ratings would’ve taken into account the ‘degree of difficulty’ aspect of their play, Carr’s rankings that his fan-boys salivate over would not have been so inflated, and discussion about him would be far more realistic. You just need to check the distribution of his target depth and the corresponding completion rate to understand that, not to mention his more than underwhelming completion rate in the red zone.
People fail to recognize that Gruden’s offense never relied on exceptional level of skill in his QBs. Whether you agree or disagree with it, he always called passing plays in inverse proportion to their degree of difficulty and downfield target depth, strongly favoring easy-to-complete types of passes. He did quite well with game manager type QBs such as Gannon in Oakland and Brad Johnson in Tampa. [Gannon was even an MVP in Gruden’s offense (Calahan did neither change the playbook nor even the naming, which cost the Raiders deatrly in the Superbowl) without (almost) ever throwing more than 20 yards downfield]. With just an average defense, to avoid so many of the losses caused by the atrocious play of recent Raiders’ defenses, even the risk averse Teddy Bridgewater would easily be an MVP candidate running the Gruden-style offense.
Mariota is a better, more complete QB than either Gannon, Johnson or Bridgewater. He could easily enjoy at least as much success as Carr running the Gruden’s offense, possibly even with more upside as he would open the playbook with his excellent running ability.
At this point, Carr’s trade value is the highest it ever was or will be. Raiders should very carefully evaluate all the trade offers for Carr, since they could get a lot of high draft picks picks for him and free up $19.6 mm in cap that would be almost enough on its own to sign a defensive game changer Leonard Williams (27, 6’5″, 304) who should be the primary target in free agency if Giants don’t tag him. He’s not only the best interior pass rusher in the league after Aaron Donald (62 QB pressures, at 12.3% rate, 13 sacks in 2020) but also an excellent run stopper (30 run stops, at 10.3% rate, only 4 missed tackles in 2020). He would make the defense significantly better, with that improvement being far more material than the potential loss on the offensive side, if any.
Agreed. Been saying that for three years
Mariota adds more play making to our offense
He has scrambling abilities and he can make the throw down field, with the speed of those receivers and they’re ability to get open, he would be my starting qb, hell I can see him playing with 8 and 8 record,,what will it hurt. let DC go open up cap space fix the defense and get a qb in this year’s draft
when YOU spend your Sundays running around looking for someone to get open, while Avon Miller or Joey Bosa are looking to take your head off, you get to call a guy who played with a broken back a coward..
I always said Marcus is the right quarterback for the Raiders. Just give Marcus a chanceTo prove himself.The Raiders won’t be disappointed.Sin City Las Vegas Raiders.Aloha
Finally, an informed, researched fan who speaks facts rather than some homer speak based on pure emotion.
If Chucky would wake up he”d get market value for Carr, start MM and dump no talent Peterson.
This team has talent and can win.
Carr will never ever be the guy to lead them.
Mariota could be if given the chance.
Do it Chucky, just do it!
I’m not a big fan of Carr but Carr is not the problem on this team. It’s our defense , Carr has never had a defense better then 20. No QB can win with that number at defense.
Carr is a top 10 QB.Mariota is a backup who got run out of town by Tannehill.
Carr is top 10 QB based on what?
On his phenomenal aggregate stats? Not very indicative as those are inflated beyond any meaning by the fact that 70% of his passes are thrown less than 5 yards downfield with 80% completion rate, while anything over that has a 52% completion rate?
Or, maybe on his ‘high’ completion rate of 50% when throwing from inside the opponents 10 yard line?
To Lou bro mariota is already signed for this year lol. He signed a two year deal last off-season. So he still has a year left. I say get a mid round draft pick for him. It will clear up money the defense . carr is durable as hell and the only thing marcus is better at it QB runs. But wait until teams can plan ahead and game plan for mariota. He won’t be putting up near as good of numbers he put up against the chargers who didn’t game plan for mariota. Carr is in his prime now. Marcus can’t handle gruden’s full playbook.
Mariota has what it takes to get the Raiders to victory. Mariota has the guts, the will to win, that Carr does not. Give Mariota an 8 game start and that will determine who stays and who is going? Dont hurt to determine the better player.
The guy who you say lacks the guts and will to win is the best in the league in comebacks.
In 2020, ‘best’ in this not too meaningful category (dominated by how uneven is the team performance) were Tannehill (5) and Rothlisberger (4), followed by Carr and 6 other QBs with 3 comebacks. Not exactly best in the league, let alone how irrelevant this stat is.
Why not try and get a premier pass rusher for Marriota? Forget a draft pick, get a proven pass rusher. Gruden still and will never admit he screwed up getting rid of Mack. His ego is to big.
Mariota is like a fifth running back which’s holds up the linebackers and DBs if you only stay in the pocket then the linebacker and corner backs will rush the Quarterback Carr does not have the speed like Mariota. How Mariota played against the chargers is the same way he at is his High School and Oregan
I don’t know what people observed of Marcus Mariota’s play but one thing for sure, in that one game he did get to play against the Chargers, Marcus almost managed to help the team pull out a victory. His ability to run the occasional RPO plays needed to move the chains was a lot more natural then when Derek Carr runs the same type of plays. What was impressive was was him not taking reps with the starting team and still was able to move and manage drives like a top tier quarterback does. He doesn’t have to win the game by himself, but he definitely brought out something in the offense that had been missing in the two previous games. Gruden ought to give him a chance to compete for the starting spot during spring and summer camps. Make a comparison of giving him at least a year to learn the nuances of Gruden’s offense and let rip between he and Carr. We have the talent to win with either quarterback on offense. Fix the weak interior line pass rush (Leonard Wlliams) and the draft and get a younger alpha leader in the DB room to handle communication and technique on the defensive backfield (Mayes). Fix the whole defensive teams tackling techniques. Highlight hits don’t win ballgames or field position. Give Bradley the tools build an ATTACKING Buc’s – like defense. Defense wins championships!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not a big fan of Carr but Carr is not the problem on this team. It’s our defense , Carr has never had a defense better then 20. No QB can win with that number at defense.
I’d prefer to roll with Marcus. Get some draft picks for Carr, clear that $20m cap and put it on defense. No brainer really.
Precisely!
Typical Jameis Winston derangement syndrome. Tampa suffered for half a decade as they kept saying Jameis is a franchise quarterback, he is improving every year until they got rid of him and got a real franchise quarterback which led them to the Super Bowl, the first year. Derek Carr is an anchor and will cost Mayock and Gruden their jobs because they can’t see past him, after 3 years they either have it or they don’t. When your QB cries after getting sacked and throws the ball at the goal line marker when short, it’s pretty obvious. They don’t need to wait until he is in his upper 30s to determine that.
Exactly!