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Derek Carr Shares Heart Felt Goodbye To Raiders Fans

Derek Carr was selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the then-Oakland Raiders. He has experienced some very high highs and very low lows, but he remained calm, cool and collected through it all, playing to the best of his abilities to help the team win as much as possible.

Carr has been a beacon of positivity for nine years during his tenure with the Raiders franchise. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and for Derek Carr, that time seems to be now. 

He was benched the last two games of the regular season for Jarrett Stidham as the coaching staff wanted to see what they had in the 2019 fourth-round pick. The writing was on the wall at the time as to Carr’s future with the franchise. There have been whispers since Josh McDaniels took over that a new quarterback could be coming to town sooner than later and the 2023 offseason looks to be when it will occur.

Despite nothing official occurring yet, Derek Carr’s time is all but over with the Raiders. He hasn’t spoken much since being benched, but earlier this week, he shared a heartfelt message saying goodbye to the fans that have cheered him on for nine years.

“It breaks my heart I didn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye in person,” Carr wrote, despite staying away from the team for its final two games in a mutual decision to not become a distraction. “We certainly have been on a roller coaster in our 9 years together. From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful and appreciative of the years of support you gave to my family and me. We had our share of both heartbreaking moments and thrilling game winning drives, and it always felt like you were there next to me.

“It’s especially hard to say goodbye because I can honestly say that I gave you everything I had, every single day, in season, and in the off season. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but I hope that I was able to leave you with more than a few great memories as Raider fans.”

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Last spring, Derek Carr signed a three-year, $121.5 million extension that seemingly locked him into the Raiders’ starting job for years to come. However, it is relatively easy for the Raiders to get out of that deal and it looks to be the course of action they will take.

In 2021, Carr said that he would probably quit football instead of play for somebody else. While he made acknowledgment of those words, he never envisioned his time with the franchise ending in this fashion, so he is excited about what the future holds.

“I meant that,” he wrote, “but I never envisioned it ending this way. That fire burning inside of me to win a championship still rages.”

The market for Derek Carr should be a robust one. There are plenty of teams around the league who need an upgrade at the quarterback position, which he would provide. 

The New York Jets, Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts are three teams that would have likely been in this year’s postseason had they had Carr leading their offense. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints are two more teams to keep an eye on depending on how their quarterback situations shake out this offseason.

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