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After repeatedly saying he’d rather retire than play for a team other than the Las Vegas Raiders, Derek Carr is going to have to go back on those words. The team benched him and is planning to trade him in the coming weeks. If they can’t trade him, they will likely release him.
Carr was sent home after the news of his benching came to light so he hasn’t been in front of cameras. He wasn’t even at the Raiders’ last two games of the season at home. He recently released a written statement saying goodbye to the franchise that drafted him but now he’s actually addressed the situation in public.
This past weekend, Carr spoke at a church in Las Vegas. While he didn’t make the entire sermon about his situation with the Raiders, he discuss it a bit and even referenced his brother David Carr going on NFL Network to discuss his benching.
“It’s easy to point the finger at other people. It’s easy to blame others. Trust me, I’ve got a lot of family members trying to do that for me,” Carr told the audience.
“But I say, you know what, I’m not going to do that. That’s comfortable for me. That really could be a comfortable place but I’m going to step out of that. I’m going to say I just can’t wait to be better myself. I’m just going to keep striving to be the best version of me that I can be. I’m going to keep trying to be better at whatever I do next. It’s uncomfortable. It’s so easy to do it the other way. It’s so easy to [point fingers].”
Carr Has Moved On
There was a lot of emotion in the decision to bench Carr. He has been the face of the franchise for nine years. Before the season started, he couldn’t have imagined things would have gone this way. The Raiders gave him a contract extension and traded for his close friend Davante Adams. 2022 was supposed to be the season that things finally started going right for Carr.
That didn’t end up being the case as he went 6-9 before getting benched and played his worst football since he was a rookie. Carr loved the Raiders but a fresh start might be the best thing that has happened to him. Hearing the news was likely rough at first but he has started to move on. He’ll now be able to go to a team that he knows wants him.
Are the Jets the Best for Carr?
Now that Carr is available, there should be several teams around the NFL that will be interested in him. The Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts looked like early favorites but the former appears ready to roll with Sam Howell while the latter may want to go with a rookie after trying a few veterans in recent years.
Carr has a say in where he goes so he’s going to want to play for a team that is in a good position to win. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd believes the New York Jets are the perfect team for the quarterback.
“Robert Saleh needs to win now. Derek Carr is that solution,” Cowherd said on “The Herd.”
The Jets have an excellent defense and a few interesting young weapons on offense. They are certainly a team that Carr should take a close look at.
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