Earlier in the week the Las Vegas Raiders benched starting quarterback Derek Carr, and the nine-year vet reportedly has a mutual agreement with the organization to step away from the team. That move comes at a time when the Raiders 6-9, are not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but needs loads of help.
It’s highly plausible we’ve seen Carr take his last snap in silver and black. But the bigger question is what happens to star wideout Davante Adams, who chose to be traded to Vegas to play within his close friend, college quarterback and roommate.
ESPN NFL analyst Damien Woody believes the only way to keep Adams from asking for a trade is to land a big fish at quarterback like Tom Brady in free agency. On a recent episode of “Get Up,” Woody explained what he meant.
“You go to … try to get a big dog like Tom Brady. At the end of the day, there’s only like 10 good quarterbacks in this league. You think Davante Adams is going to stand for, ‘Oh we’re going to try to draft a rookie’? Davante Adams doesn’t want to hear that. You’re gonna have to try to sell him on some type of other big-name quarterback.”
Adams Showed Support To Carr: Would Brady Come To Vegas?
In the wake of Carr’s demise, Adams showed his close friend all the support you’d expect between two people who have been friends for the better part of ten years. In a tweet, Adams made it clear that if it weren’t for Carr he probably wouldn’t have come to Vegas.
Davante Adams posted this on Instagram defending Derek Carr. #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/kRuaYZadqt
— Raiders Report Mitchell Renz (@MitchellRenz365) December 29, 2022
Despite Carr’s struggles this season, Adams has still had a great season, with 88 receptions for 1,290 yards and 12 touchdowns.
But as Woody stated, you have to believe Adams didn’t come to Vegas to have an unproven signal-caller throwing him the football.
That’s where the Tom Brady talk comes in. The 45-year-old legend has made it clear that he isn’t ready to hang up the cleats, and despite showing some regression as expected with age, Brady is still a solid option at quarterback. And it’s something the Raiders brass could sell Adams on in hopes of keeping the star pass-catcher in silver and black.
Raiders Were Expected To Compete In AFC
After an offseason that saw the team add former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as head coach, and the aforementioned Adams, things were looking up for the franchise. They then added edge rusher Chandler Jones to help an always struggling defense, and to no avail. None of it has made a difference.
In essence, McDaniels hasn’t been great either, his play-calling has left a lot to be desired at times. But they seemed to find a scapegoat in Carr, who wasn’t the quarterback choice of either McDaniels or first-year GM Dave Ziegler.
Crazy to think in a matter of a season he went from player of the month and 4,800 yards to benched.. and to do him dirty like they did.. just no class.. call me a Stan all you want.. I’m okay with moving on and hope we find a successful qb.. but Derek deserved more #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/VonMLlkmEA
— Jimmy James aka Raider Duke (@LaJeunesseArt) December 29, 2022
If Carr has played his last game in a Raiders uniform, remember this: During his nearly nine-year run the defense has ranked dead last in points allowed and turnovers forced. That’d be a problem for any quarterback to have sustained success.
