Wow. Just wow. It’s truly incredible how bad of luck the Raiders have had since moving to Vegas. Henry Ruggs, Damon Arnette, Jon Gruden… you get the point. The Raiders were thought to be a Super Bowl contender after trading for one of the best WR’s in the game and Derek Carr’s college teammate, Davante Adams. However, sitting at 6-9 going into week 17 with so many questions already, first-year Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels announces that Derek Carr has been benched and will be stepping away from the team while Jarrett Stidham and Chase Garbers take over the QB duties. There’s a lot to unravel here, so let’s get started:
What is the future of Derek Carr?
In a sport where QBs want the money, it’s hard to find the Derek Carr’s of the world. A guy who loves his team so much that he would consider retirement over playing for someone else. You just don’t find that often in this day and age. They claim Carr could come back next season, but we just don’t believe that, not with how everything went down. We are curious to see if Carr stays true to what he said last year and retires or if he will actually play for someone else. If he does decide he wants to continue playing, there are plenty of teams who I’m sure would love to have him.
This is from Carr’s press conference last year after he got extended… “I’ve only wanted to be a Raider,” Carr said in a press conference. “And I told my agent, I said ‘I’m either going to be a Raider or I’m going to be playing golf, like I don’t want to be playing anywhere else.’ That’s how much this place means to me.”
What is the future of Davante Adams? Josh Jacobs?
Josh Jacobs’s future with the Raiders is difficult to predict because, under McDaniels offensive scheme, Jacobs finally had a super breakout season. If he wants to continue his personal success, he probably stays in Vegas but based on an interview with him from this week he seems extremely fed up with everything going on surrounding the team. The Raiders did decline his 5th-year option, so the only thing that could stop him from going wherever he wants is if the Raiders franchise tag him, which is a real possibility with how he’s played this season.
The future of Adams is also difficult to predict. In an interview he did this week, he said Derek Carr is the ONLY reason why he ended up in Vegas. If the fallout between McDaniels and Carr stays as is in the offseason I wouldn’t rule out Adams requesting a trade. I mean I wouldn’t want to stay with that dumpster fire in Vegas if I were him, especially if Carr is out.
What do the Raiders do with this roster and the money?
-Derek Carr: 3 year, $121.5 million extension; $65.28 million guaranteed
-Davante Adams: 5 year, $140 million; $65.67 million guaranteed
-Hunter Renfrow: 2 year, $32 million extension; $21 million guaranteed
-Darren Waller: 3 year, $51 million extension; $22 million guaranteed
Look at all the money the Raiders handed out. Carr certainly doesn’t look like the QB that earned that contract and I assume it’s because of McDaniels, but who knows. Renfrow and Waller missed most of the year with injuries. Adams is the only person who has really lived up to the contract and there’s no guarantee he’ll be in Vegas next season. I assume they keep Renfrow, but if you move the other three this offseason that’s a lot of money in dead cap.
That’s not even to mention since 2014 the Raiders have had 11 first-round picks and only three are still left on the roster, and two of the three had their 5th year option declined this past offseason. Also, none of those three are named Khalil Mack or Amari Cooper either. That’s also only first-rounders, their draft retention rate must be one of the worst in the NFL in recent memory. That’s not all on McDaniels, but still.
On paper, this isn’t even a bad roster. As I said earlier this was a team people thought could be in super bowl contention and right now, they aren’t even a lock for the playoffs. They need to figure things out, and particularly I think it’s on the defensive side of the ball more so than the offensive.
What do the Raiders do with Josh McDaniels?
First off, you pray for forgiveness for not hiring Rich Bisaccia at the end of last season. I don’t care if he was not the most “qualified” coach or the exciting young head coach, the players loved him and played their hearts out for him, and he had great control of the locker room. That’s a lot more than could be said about McDaniels. Even though we liked the hiring at the time, it was easy to see how well the team played for Bisaccia and it was always a risk not staying with him.
Unfortunately for the Raiders you can’t fire McDaniels. From my understanding, unless something changed, the Raiders still owe Gruden a good sum of money from his goofy 10-year deal, and the NFL has already talked to the owners and franchises about burning money via firing coaches. The NFL will not like it if the Raiders are paying three coaches next season, especially because McDaniels is getting paid $10 million/year which is in the top 10 for NFL coaches, which is ridiculous for a guy who showed absolutely zero signs of being a winner in his last stint as a head coach.
If you are McDaniels, get through the season, and hope you get to see year two of your contract. You can’t even argue that you need time to rebuild because this Raiders team which, roster-wise, was significantly worse last year. Yet, that team made it to the playoffs and almost knocked off the red-hot Bengals, and ended up in the Super Bowl last year. Despite a better roster, Carr doesn’t look the same, the weapons are not all involved at the same time, the locker room isn’t united (except maybe against their coach), and you are a losing football team. All signs point to McDaniels as the problem.
McDaniels needs to figure out how to get the locker room back and turn things around, or the Raiders are going to need to make a move before McDaniels screws this franchise for the future. The Raiders will be the storyline of the offseason and the team we will keep the closest eye on this offseason.
Update:
Rumors: There is a “legit chance” the #Raiders release QB Derek Carr, per @Schultz_Report
— JPA (@jasrifootball) December 29, 2022
Rumors: Derek Carr won’t retire and is telling people he thinks his best football is in front of him, per @RapSheet
— JPA (@jasrifootball) January 1, 2023