We are now entering Year 4 of the Jon Gruden-Derek Carr pairing. Early on, there were some questions if this would be the right fit with the Raiders. But over the last two years, Carr has played some of the best football of his career and has certainly improved his standing among his peers.
However, that doesn’t mean the Raiders won’t look to improve the situation at quarterback if there is a better option out there. Carr has two years left on his contract (2021 and 2022), but there is no guaranteed money left on his deal. That makes him easy to trade/cut if the Raiders find a better option elsewhere.
In a recent article by ESPN’s 32 beat writers, they took a look at every quarterback situation in the NFL going into the 2022 offseason. Here is what Paul Guiterrez wrote about Derek Carr and Jon Gruden going into next offseason:
“Next offseason, Carr will have only one, non-guaranteed year left on his contract. The Raiders have gone 4-12, 7-9 and 8-8 at the start of Gruden’s second tenure. Given the way that Raiders ownership feels about him, Gruden might have more job security than just about any coach this side of Kansas City or New England. But another disappointing year would almost have to make the organization reevaluate, right? And that could mean a reboot under a different coach, quarterback or both.”
Guiterrez made it known that Carr is the most likely quarterback for the Raiders in 2022, considering that he has improved in every season in this offense. On top of that, he is already under contract for next year.
But if the Raiders do decide to move on from Carr for whatever reasons, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers will certainly be on their wish list. How realistic are those options? Not very. So look for Carr to be back with the Raiders next season, likely with a new contract extension.
