According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders appear to be more receptive to trade offers for Derek Carr than they were a year ago.
“For the last few years, the answer has been a firm no,” Rapoport said of the Raiders interest in trading Carr. “That may not be the case now. Teams have been calling the Raiders to gauge interest in trading for Carr, and at least right now, the team appears open to considering it in some form or fashion — as long as it can replace him with someone on the same level. In reality, teams believe Las Vegas is open to dealing one of two QBs — Carr or Marcus Mariota. Guaranteeing Nathan Peterman $1 million in 2021 was a sign they could part with another QB. Will someone make them an offer good enough?”
An interesting note in there is that Rapoport said the Raiders were giving teams a “firm no” about Carr’s availability last year. Statistically, Carr had the best season of his career in 2020, so what kind of offers are the Raiders getting this year that they are reportedly more willing to listen?
There are essentially four legitimate playoff teams currently heading into next year without a quarterback. The Bears, Patriots, Colts, and Football Team all figure to be aggressive in their quarterback search in the coming weeks. Those four teams will presumably end up with an assortment of Carson Wentz, Sam Darnold, and probably Deshaun Watson. No doubt, they have all called about Carr and maybe Marcus Mariota, too.
These are the scenarios that might make the most sense. We’ll see how it plays out, but look for…
Wentz to Indianapolis.
Darnold to the Washington Football Team.
Watson to Miami (even though they don’t necessarily need a new quarterback).
Mariota to New England.
And that would leave the Bears with… ?
twitter: @raidersbeat
Man Del Rio and Musgrave did a great job with the Raiders, and Gruden inherited a great team, and dismantled them! Now Carr is playing at a high level, just needs to run a little more, but knows the offense and they might trade him ! We’ll never have any consistency if we don’t keep everyone together! Khalil Mack, was bad enough, don’t make another mistake! I’m tired of my team sucking! I know Gruden can get the job done, he just needs to do it !!!
Long past due! Get the pick for him while you still can, this is a business and sentiment goes out the window…once a Raider, always a Raider!!!
I think it’s crazy if anyone thinks replacing a top 10 QB in Carr will make any difference for the Raiders when what they need is a top 15 heck how about even a top 20 defense to make any shot at the playoffs??? Watson or any other QB can’t win on a team that gives up 30 a game unless it was Mahomes. If the Raiders had an average defense the past 5 years instead of the worst they would probably have made playoffs 3 of 5 years with Carr, so Raiders need to finally invest in their defense and give Carr the chance to lead this team to the promise land, otherwise all this talk about other QBs is a waste of time.
I don’t know why nfl media at large seem to ignore the obvious glaring reality….if the Raiders trade Carr, there is a 99% probability that Watson ends up in Vegas. When/if that happens, Raiders make far more sense than all the other options combined. If I was Texans, and I really was serious about buildingstrongest roster…I’d be looking at a trade involving Carr..a QB they can with with, plus 2 1sets. But that seems unlikely as nfl teams value fantasy over reality, so I don’t think theyre looking at Carr.
If Raiders trade Carr elsewhere, they would likely have 4 1sts
or 3 1sts & a 2nd minimum…and a viable bridge QB.. to deal without causing major heartache to their roster building. Only Dolphins & Fins breathe that air, and I question whether they give up the 2 or 3 pick in a QB rich class. I could be wrong, but building around a rookie QB is the fashion and, as we are so often told, NFL is a QB league.
Raiders seem outsiders because the Carr rumours haven’t firmed up, but the day the become a reality (if indeed they do), Raiders become the strongest likelihood and it’s not even close.
I don’t see Mariota going to the NE, he’s from Hawaii – Trade Carr and keep Mariota. take the trade capital and go fetch Trevor Lawrence. Keep Mariota, he’s an improvement over Carr and let the new QB learn. As one can see, Carr is not elite, no matter how many martini’s fuzz up Grudens brain.
ALL and I mean ALL Raiders fans know that Al Davis had a long ball philosophy. Darren Waller, Zay Jones, Henry Ruggs and Nelson Agholor fit that philosophy to a tee but dink and dunk is currently the M.O. of the Raiders. When these players were assembled, last year, I suggested that the Raiders could score, at least, two touchdowns per quarter. To date myself, Al Davis, Don Coryell and Dan Fouts would have been in heaven with these offensive weapons. So, it becomes a matter of philosophy.
Surely, some people might say that my thinking is overly optimistic to which I respond, why not? If nothing else, Al Davis could NEVER be accused of being a conservative football mind. If anything, Al Davis was ahead of his time regarding his football philosophy. Conservative football thinking has it’s place but it takes an innovator to push the limits of what we have come to expect. Does anyone expect football to go back to the three yards and a cloud of dust philosophy? HELL NO!!!! If anything, fans want to see MORE SCORING and a football team that takes chances and thereby brings excitement to the game. The Raiders, in my opinion, have the opportunity to do this very thing. Al Davis would NEVER have let ANYONE beat him to the punch. If anything, Al Davis would be the one to throw the first punch and leave it up to others to respond to his ATTACK FIRST philosophy. If there is anyone in the world who should NOW understand and EMBRACE this, it SHOULD BE Jon Gruden.
In professional basketball, it took Kyrie Irving only a years separation from LeBron James to come back and say, “Now I understand what LeBron was trying to say to me.” Jon Gruden, after all that he has been through, should NOW understand what Al Davis was trying to get him to understand. That’s called learning. The documented history of Jon Gruden’s won – loss record, especially at the end of seasons, SHOULD tell him that his currently held philosophy “needs an adjustment.” If a person continually makes the same mistake over and over again and again, it’s NOT a mistake. As I have said previously, when Jason Tolliver was with the Raiders, and was asked about the offensive speed of the then Peyton Manning lead Denver Broncos, he said; “…the Denver Broncos have three speeds on offense…” My point is that the then Denver Broncos were innovative. IF the Raiders should go back to Al Davis’ long ball philosophy, it would be reminiscent of the movie Back to the Future. The future of the Raiders IS NOT three yards and a cloud of dust.
Surely, some day someone is going to step up and score two touchdowns per quarter or at least attempt to UP the game and their game, respectively. With six years left on his contract and the blessings of Mark Davis, why not the Raiders? Al Davis’ Raiders had the speed, talent and hutzpah to dare to be innovative and, in my opinion, revolutionized the game. Not every coach, in the NFL has been the beneficiary of working with a revolutionizing, innovative genius. Fortunately for Jon Gruden, he has. He needs to take advantage of and utilize ALL of the mental and physical tools at his disposal. Without a doubt, many coaches would have loved to have studied under Al Davis, Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown, Bill Belichik, Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson. Even Bill Belichik served under Bill Parcells and has stated how invaluable that tutelage was for him. Jon Gruden has the chance to do the same, should he chose to do so.
In other words “Speed Kills”, so let it happen! We need the right quarterback to deliver in down field and west coast style offense of short passes aren’t what these receivers were brought in for, we have the legs for the deep threat which will in turn open up the running game! The Raiders have become very predictable on offense and the defenses know it and for God sakes on third down and long stop throwing the ball short of the marker and always expect the receiver to get the needed yards after the catch!!!