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Derek Carr, a 31-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback, signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent earlier this offseason.
That is, of course, an odd sentence to type considering the fact that signal-caller of Carr’s caliber and age (31 years old) rarely, if ever, hit the open market like that.
Having previously spent his entire career with the Raiders, Carr was cut by the team earlier this year after the team was unable to find a trade partner. According to Carr, however, that’s because the organization was only willing to negotiate with one of the 31 other teams in the league.
“I was very willing to accept a trade. But I was only able to talk to one team,” Derek Carr said.
“I was only given permission to talk to one team. As much as I love and respect those guys, Dave and Josh over at the Raiders, how do I make that decision when it’s the only time in my career that I’ve been, or could possibly be free? I can’t possibly make that decision without being able to talk to other people. But I still almost made the decision. I felt so much love here. Like, I still almost did it. [via ESPN]
While it’d be understandable for the Raiders to be against the idea of trading Carr to a team within their own division — and none of those teams, not even the Russell Wilson-led Broncos, are in the market for a QB — only allowing Carr to negotiate with one team feels like cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Granted, although Carr has never won a Super Bowl like Wilson has, you look at the package that the Seahawks got for him last year and wonder if the Raiders would’ve been able to get something similar.