The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to bench Derek Carr for the remainder of the season, and it sounds like that will signal the end of the quarterback’s time with the franchise.
The Raiders are expected to explore trade possibilities for Carr after the season ends, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. While there are scenarios where Carr would remain in Las Vegas, Rapoport said the “likely outcome” is a trade.
Though he once said he would rather retire than play for a team other than the Raiders, the 31-year-old Carr reportedly has no plans to call it a career.
As another NFL insider recently explained, the Raiders will have to make a quick decision with Carr once the season ends. Carr has more than $40 million in his contract that will become guaranteed if he remains on Las Vegas’ roster on the third day of the waiver period, which would be three days after the Super Bowl. If the Raiders are unable to trade him and want to cut him, they would have to do so no later than three days after the Super Bowl in order to get out from under the guaranteed money.
No trade can formally be made before the start of the new league year in mid-March, but that should not be a significant obstacle. The Raiders could reach a handshake agreement with a team, which is what the Kansas City Chiefs did when they traded Alex Smith to Washington several years ago.
We have already heard of a couple of teams that might make sense for Carr. While he has had a rough season with an NFL-worst 14 interceptions, Carr would certainly be an upgrade for several teams across the league.
