Derek Carr benched in sign Raiders career could be over

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Derek Carr’s career with the Raiders could already be over.

The Raiders are planning to start Jarrett Stidham in place of Carr against the 49ers on Sunday, head coach Josh McDaniels announced on Wednesday. Carr will be inactive against San Francisco with Chase Garbers slated to be Stidham’s backup.

Before the news became official, multiple reports indicated that a benching could spell the end of Carr’s nine-year tenure with the Raiders.

“If the Raiders sit Derek Carr Sunday, it will be the 4th game he misses in 9 seasons and the 1st not due to injury,” Vic Tafur, who covers the Raiders for The Athletic, tweeted on Wednesday. “His salary of $33 million next year and $7.5 million in 2024 become guaranteed if he gets hurt, and front office met last 2 nights to decide on course of action.”

While it’s possible Carr would have some trade value, ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio wrote that a benching would be a “clear precursor” for a release given that Carr’s $40 million due in 2023 vests at the same time a trade would become allowed at the start of the new league year. Therefore, if a team agreed to trade for Carr but later backed out, the Raiders would be stuck holding the bag.

McDaniels acknowledged that Carr’s time with the team could be finished.

“There’s a lot to be sorted through once the season is over,” the coach told reporters on Wednesday.

Carr has thrown 14 interceptions, the most in the NFL this season, and threw three in the Raiders’ loss to the Steelers this past week.

The Raiders (6-9) have disappointed this season in McDaniels’ first year on the job. They’ve lost four games in which they were leading by 10 or more at halftime.

If the Raiders do move on from Carr, it would be a massive changing of the guard, as he’s been their primary starting quarterback since 2014.

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