The Oakland Raiders pulled off a huge trade when acquiring Antonio Brown this weekend, and Derek Carr was a big reason why.
It still feels surreal that Antonio Brown is officially an Oakland Raider, and will be the No. 1 weapon for Derek Carr next season. It’s not typical that a player of Brown’s caliber would be interested in joining the Silver and Black.
Sure, we can say it’s because of the enormous amount of cap space to offer him a contract. However, it isn’t solely just the contract for Antonio Brown. It’s about the fit, which is what he didn’t feel anymore with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It’s well known by now that Brown and Ben Roethlisberger‘s relationship took a turn for the worst during the 2018 NFL season. It got to the point that Brown refused to speak with him when he tried to reach out after the season.
However, when it came to Derek Carr, Brown was all ears.
That’s because Derek isn’t the type of player to throw someone under the bus. He won’t blame someone first, if at all. In fact, he shoulders blame that isn’t even his fault at times. That is the humbling character of Derek Carr. It is what attracted Brown to the Raiders.
He’ll have a quarterback that he can communicate with and won’t point the finger. It’s one thing to be constructively criticizing someone, it’s another to just completely cast blame.
The relationship of Carr and Brown will be questioned just like how it was with Jon Gruden. And much like how it was with Gruden, the questioning will be farfetched. It’s really unnecessary questioning that isn’t concrete.
To say the two can’t work well together is just a reach. Antonio Brown will make Derek Carr so much better.
The fact that Carr is a reason that Brown wanted to come to the Oakland Raiders is revealing. Once again, the contract is a big reason but it isn’t the sole reason. If that were the case, Brown wouldn’t have cared where he went. He would’ve settled for any team, like the Buffalo Bills, that would pay him the big bucks. Free agency and the draft are still remaining, yet the 2019 season already looks like something to be excited for.