Derek Carr doesn’t seem long for the Las Vegas Raiders, and these five teams look like viable landing spots for him.
Derek Carr has never seemed very likely to be the Raiders’ quarterback when they moved from Oakland to Las Vegas, despite the fact he bought a house next door to head coach Jon Gruden. With ample options out there to replace him, via free agency, trade or the draft, the Raiders can find another quarterback if they want to and rumors of their interest in Tom Brady have persisted.
The Raiders can move on from Carr easily. They’ve already paid him $2.9 million due to him on the Wednesday after the Super Bowl, but if he’s cut or traded before June they can clear $16 million in cap space while taking on $5 million in dead money.
Naturally, Raiders general manager Mike Mayock was asked about the team’s quarterback situation at the NFL Combine Tuesday morning.
“Derek Carr played at a high level,” Mayock said, via Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com. “I’m very happy with Derek Carr. What I’ve told everybody I’ve been in touch with since I took this job is we’re gonna evaluate every position every year. If we can get better, we will.”
Carr topped 4,000 yards while completing a robust 70.4 percent of his passes last year. But he also only had 21 touchdown passes, and the eye test is backed by statistics that say he’s simply an average quarterback.
The Raiders are in a solid position as they consider the rest of the quarterback market, with a proverbial “bird in the hand” they can just stick with if other plans don’t get traction.
But the Raiders seem intent on finding a way to move on from Carr, and these five teams are possible landing spots for him in a trade.
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5. Tennessee Titans
Coming of a surprising run to the AFC Championship Game, the Titans have some big decisions to make. Running back Derrick Henry, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and offensive tackle Jack Conklin are free agents, and it can be argued that Henry and Conklin should be higher priorities than Tannehill.
Coming off his best season, Tannehill is hitting the free agent market at the right time to cash in. Placing the franchise tag on him is an option, but no matter what he’s in line to carry a bigger salary and cap hit than Carr this year ($21.5 million cap hit) and beyond if the Titans were to work out a multi-year deal with him.
Based purely on the finances of it, and possibly being priced out of the market for Tannehill rather quickly, Tennessee could be the spot for Carr.