One of the biggest storylines in the NFL this offseason was the divorce between the Las Vegas Raiders and quarterback Derek Carr. The writing was on the wall about Derek Carr’s future with the franchise after they benched him following a Week 16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Raiders instead opted to start Jarrett Stidham in his place, who started the last two games of the season. Needing to make a decision because of Derek Carr’s contract, Las Vegas officially moved on early in the offseason, releasing the Fresno State product.
Derek Carr had been the starter for the Raiders for nine seasons, ever since they selected him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. It certainly wasn’t the ending that either side had in mind, as he has been a pillar for the Raiders throughout some dark times in the past decade.
No matter how bad things got, the Raiders could always count on Derek Carr to represent the organization. That responsibility will now fall upon the shoulders of Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the team signed in free agency to become their new starting quarterback.
It was something that former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin recently talked about in an interview with Mike Dixon of Vegas Sports Today. In addition to the quarterback change, Irvin also had some strong words about how the Raiders handled the situation with Derek Carr.
“I got to see that play out, Garoppolo had an early great start in New England,” Irvin told Mike Dixon of Vegas Sports Today in a July 30 interview. “He’ll be coming back in that offense, he knows it, that’ll be helpful for him. The Raiders’ problem wasn’t always Carr, their problem was their defense a lot of the time. They would put up a lot of points on other teams, but the defense couldn’t hold up.”
Irving is certainly correct in his assessment. In nine seasons as the Raiders starting quarterback, the team’s defense was never even average. 14th in yardage allowed is the best mark that they had from 2014-2022, with 20th being the best they finished for points allowed.
While the quarterback receives all of the attention when it comes to win-loss records, they are far from the only component that goes into it. The Raiders failed Derek Carr in more than one way and then essentially kicked him to the curb.
The New Orleans Saints are certainly happy about how things turned out, as they now have Derek Carr as their starting quarterback. They are hopeful that he can lead them to heights that he was never able to achieve in Las Vegas, as Derek Carr didn’t win a playoff game with the Raiders, only making it twice but being hurt the first time.
