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The Las Vegas Raiders and Derek Carr likely thought they were done with Tom Brady rumors after he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. The two sides were heavily linked to each other despite Carr being entrenched as the starter. There’s no telling where his career might have gone had Brady gotten signed.
Carr has been adamant about not ever wanting to play for a team that isn’t the Raiders but that would’ve been put to the test. The quarterback has had to hear about rumors surrounding his job for years now and he’s having to hear them again despite signing a contract extension with the team this offseason. UFC president Dana White brought the Brady-Raiders rumors back to the forefront when he recently revealed that the two sides had agreed to a partnership before head coach Jon Gruden backed out.
After Tuesday’s joint practice with the New England Patriots, Carr had a chance to address the latest chatter but didn’t have much to say other than that he’s essentially used to it.
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Did Brady Take Shot at Carr?
Brady turned heads last year when he appears on “The Shop” and referred to an unnamed quarterback as “that motherf***er” when talking about a team that didn’t want to sign him. There’s been a lot of speculation regarding who he was talking about but now many think he was talking about the Raiders and Carr.
It’s entirely possible that Brady was referencing Carr but it could’ve also been Ryan Tannehill of the Tennesee Titans or Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers. It could also be a quarterback that nobody is talking about. Carr is considered one of the nice guys in the NFL so it would be a cheap shot for Brady to have such harsh comments about him. The world will likely never know who exactly he was talking about.
Were Raiders Right to Stick With Carr?
In hindsight, it looks like a big mistake that the Raiders didn’t sign Brady. He’s still playing at an elite level and led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win while Las Vegas hasn’t won a playoff game in that span. However, there’s no reason to believe that the Raiders and Brady would’ve had as much success as Tampa Bay.
Their roster was much further along in 2020 on both sides of the ball. The Raiders still had one of the worst defenses in the league while the wide receiver corps was led by rookies Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards. Not exactly Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Sure, Brady elevates players around him but even he isn’t a miracle worker. If the Raiders got rid of Carr, Davante Adams likely wouldn’t have come to town. The future is much brighter for the team right now. The short-term gains would’ve been nice but the Raiders are set up much better for the coming years with Carr.
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