With less than a month until the new NFL year begins, rumors have swirled around Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and whether he will be part of the team’s plans going forward.
Carr led the Raiders to a 7-9 record this past season, posting career-highs in completion percentage (70.4), passing yards (4,054), quarterback rating (100.8) and ESPN’s version of QBR (63.7).
While Carr shined from an individual standpoint, the Raiders continuously struggled to put points on the board throughout the year, ranking just 24th in points per game (19.6).
The Raiders’ shortcomings on offense has led to speculation that the team could look to make a change at the quarterback position this offseason.
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock recently defended Carr and believes the Raiders struggled as a whole in all three phases, via Jerry McDonald of The Mercury News:
“The bottom line is this — I think everybody needs to understand at what level Derek Carr played last year. The guy completed 70 percent of his passes. He almost a three-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio. I think we were No. 11 in the league in total yards, were seventh in third-down conversions.
“The disconnect was we didn’t score a lot of points. You (No.) 11 in yards and (No.) 24 in points there’s an issue. It’s defense. It’s special teams. It’s not scoring in the red zone and not scoring in goal-to-go. To me, those are the issues. Derek Carr played at a high level. I’m very happy with Derek Carr.”
Despite his recent praising of Carr, Mayock noted that he will continue to monitor the quarterback market for potential upgrades:
“What I’ve told everybody I’ve been in touch with since the day I took this job is we’re going to evaluate every position, every year. And if we can get better, we will. And guys get tired of me saying that, but that’s really what I told Mark Davis before I took the job and that’s my mantra.”
The Raiders are expected to be one of the more active teams during the free agency period this year in addition to having two first-round draft picks.
The team has most interestingly been connected to New England Patriots free agent quarterback Tom Brady after he was spotted talking to Raiders owner Mark Davis at a recent UFC event in Las Vegas.
While some are skeptical that Brady will leave the only organization he has ever known, the Raiders are believed to be preparing a two-year, $60 million contract offer for him.
