Former Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden gave credit to Derek Carr for the team’s success in luring free agents this offseason.
Monday Night Football color commentator Jon Gruden is forever linked to his first-ever NFL head coaching job with the Oakland Raiders as Gruden was the first to assemble the early 00’s Raiders before bolting to Tampa Bay where he beat his former team in the Super Bowl. Gruden still regarded as an iconic Raiders coach despite his short stint in Oakland and winning that infamous Super Bowl matchup against the Raiders just one year after being traded away by Al Davis to the Bucs.
Due to that relationship with the franchise and his role in the booth on MNF, Gruden is often asked about his thoughts on his former team. Thoughts that are increasingly becoming more and more positive as the Raiders have given analysts like Gruden plenty to praise this offseason with a promising free agency that has Oakland emerging as playoff contenders in the AFC.
When asked about the Raiders offseason this week, Gruden credited the play of young star quarterback Derek Carr as a major factor for general manager Reggie McKenzie in finally succeeding at convincing big names to come to Oakland after years of struggles in recruiting free agents. Claiming that free agents want to go to a franchise that has a star at quarterback and that Carr fits the bill after his first two NFL seasons.
Gruden: "I think Derek Carr and his performance over the last couple years has made the #Raiders once again a destination for free agents"
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) April 21, 2016
Gruden’s full quote on Carr and his role in the Raiders becoming a free agent destination can be read below (via Raiders.com):
"“I think [General Manager] Reggie [McKenzie] has done a really good job. Obviously, the Derek Carr selection at the top of the second round is his signature, I think, acquisition. When you have a quarterback, as you know, your football program or city becomes a desirable destination for free agents. People want to go where they have a quality quarterback because they know they have a chance to win. I think Derek Carr and his performance over the past couple of years has made the Raiders, once again, a destination for free agents, and I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that as an ex-Oakland Raider.”"
The Raiders were fortunate to land both Khalil Mack and Carr in 2014, but it cannot be stated enough just how important it was that Reggie McKenzie selected the promising Fresno State passer two years ago at the draft. Without Carr, who knows where the Raiders rebuild would be right now, but if you ask Coach Gruden it would involve far less star free agents coming to the Bay Area if the team still was searching for their answer at quarterback.