After the 2021 season in which the Las Vegas Raiders made it to the playoffs, it seemed like Derek Carr would be the team’s starting quarterback for a long time. However, the team overhauled its coaching staff and hired Josh McDaniels as head coach. Las Vegas Raiders reached the playoffs, it looked like Derek Carr }Derek Carr{ Josh McDaniels as head coach.
Carr had difficulties in the new system and was let go by the team last year. While Carr has had ups and downs in his career, he made four Pro Bowls with the Raiders. Mayock was with the team to see Carr’s progress and believes that former head coach Mike Mayock deserves a lot of credit for the quarterback's play. Jon Gruden Mayock subtly criticized Carr when discussing this.
Mayock indirectly criticized Carr when discussing this.
“I thought Jon did an amazing job with Derek Carr,” Mayock said on the April 2 episode of “3 & Out.” “Since Jon left, Derek has declined.”
Carr’s last season in Gruden’s offense in 2021 saw him throw for a career-high 4,804 yards and 23 touchdowns. He has not thrown for more than 4,000 yards since but has thrown for more than 23 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons. None of Carr’s Pro Bowl seasons occurred when Gruden was his head coach.
Mike Mayock Talks About Derek Carr Trade Rumors
Even when Derek Carr was playing under Jon Gruden, the quarterback was the subject of frequent trade rumors. The idea was that the coach wanted to upgrade at the position but according to Mike Mayock, the Raiders never seriously considered moving on from the quarterback.
“No,” Mayock said when asked if the Raiders ever considered trading Carr. “The reality is that there’s always going to be X number of franchise quarterbacks. … One group below that is another five or six guys that I think you can win with. … I felt strongly that each year with Jon [Gruden], Derek got better and by the end of the ’21 season, whether you were a Derek Carr supporter or not, I think you’d have to say he was a top 12 or 13 quarterback.”
Carr is still the Raiders’ all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Although he never won a playoff game with the team, it’s hard to find capable quarterback play and Las Vegas is currently struggling to solve the position since moving on from Carr.
Mike Mayock Explains Why Las Vegas Raiders Wouldn’t Trade Derek Carr
Although the Raiders didn’t seriously explore Derek Carr’s trade options, Mike Mayock wouldn’t have been against making a change in the right situation. However, he never found a worthwhile situation.
“Somebody can offer you a first-round pick but if you don’t have a solution for who’s getting under center next year, that first round pick isn’t doing you any good. … We never got a satisfactory solution for how we would replace Derek,” Mayock said. “And from our perspective, we were improving every year.”
The Raiders never developed a young successor for Carr while Mayock was there so the team didn’t have many options if they would’ve moved on. In hindsight, the team would’ve been better off trading Carr as he was eventually let go for nothing and the Raiders still haven’t won a playoff game since 2002.
