As the Oakland Raiders finish off a disappointing season, it appears there may be changes beyond just the move to Las Vegas for 2020.
In a new column, Michael Lombardi of The Athletic writes that a “significant disconnect” exists between coach Jon Gruden and quarterback Derek Carr after two seasons together. In Lombardi’s view, Carr does not demonstrate enough of the qualities that Gruden prefers in quarterbacks, namely mistake avoidance and a certain fire and toughness.
Lombardi believes that the 10-20 record Gruden has amassed since rejoining the Raiders will not sit well with the coach. Lombardi also thinks the Raiders will draft a quarterback and use Carr’s relatively affordable contract as a trade chip.
Gruden has vocally backed Carr as the Raiders’ long-term quarterback, but that was a year ago now. Carr’s numbers in 2019 haven’t been a huge improvement on 2018, and Oakland still isn’t winning. That may be enough for Gruden to stake his tenure on a new quarterback if he doesn’t think Carr can ultimately get the job done.
