Las Vegas Raiders: A proper farewell and thank you to Derek Carr
By Keith Ricci
Las Vegas Raiders: A proper farewell and thank you to Derek Carr
What is next?
“He’s playing football again…he’s going to look for teams that have a stable situation,” a fired-up David Carr said on NFL Network days after his brother was benched. I took this with a grain of salt, as it was a very emotional and reactionary segment. It was also David’s opportunity to put that idea into existence in the NFL world and get the conversation started.
But I’m not as convinced as everyone else seems to be. We have not heard from Derek Carr since he was benched – and I don’t think we will hear from him until after he knows all of his options. I’m confident that if he doesn’t like any of the teams trying to employ him, he will indeed retire as a Raider like he’s said all along, remain at his house in Las Vegas, and perhaps take on a consultant position in the Raiders front office under Mark Davis, further cementing his legacy inside those walls.
Does he really want to move to a new city and play for another non-playoff team? The situation needs to be perfect or else it makes no sense for him to play in 2023. So I think the door is wide open for him to retire or at least take time off until the right team comes calling.
Both of his brothers have publicly backed him during this transition. Football has given them the platform, so they’re using it to generate buzz for the soon-to-be-available quarterback. I would do the same for my relatives. And so would you.
Carr has spent almost one-third of his life as a Raider. Despite the losing and the negativity, he showed up to headquarters every day before the sun would rise and got to work with a smile on his face. His tenure ends at 91 consecutive games started on one team, which was by far the longest active streak by any QB in the NFL.