Getty ImagesAs the 2014 draft approached, Raiders owner Mark Davis developed a strong desire to draft quarterback Derek Carr. On the afternoon before the draft began, chatter emerged that Davis was pushing for Carr to be taken with the fifth overall pick in round one.
The Raiders passed, as did each of the next 32 teams. Then, with the fifth pick in round two, the Raiders pounced on Carr.
With a front office and coaching staff in win-now mode and a roster laden with veterans, it didn’t make sense. With coach Dennis Allen already gone and Davis apparently interested in bringing Jon Gruden back to the Bay Area, it suddenly does.
The current thinking is that Davis wanted Carr because Davis believes Carr’s presence will help lure Gruden back to town. For any coach with options (and it’s still not clear how many options Gruden really has had or will have), the quarterback position becomes nearly as important as the salary. Davis thinks that Gruden’s favorite quarterback in the 2014 class was Carr. Which could help Gruden choose to return to the Black Hole at a time when the roster otherwise contains plenty of red flags.
Other terms will be compensation and power. Or, at a minimum, the power to hire someone Gruden trusts to set the table from a personnel standpoint.
It’s not clear whether Gruden has any interest in leaving the friendly confines of the broadcast booth, but if he’s ready to jump and if Davis is ready to pay, Carr could be the guy who helps seal the deal.
how could anyone tell? he hypes up every QB in every draft telling them how good they were and will be.
Looks like someone snuck in a clever pun in that headline.
Carr is the key.
Nice!
After conducting the draft for the Raiders, John will relinquish his G.M. duties to concentrate on coaching the team.
So… Why do people want Gruden so bad?
Look guys, here’s the thing…if we talk about who Gruden could or could not be coaching for now then what the hell are we going to talk about in the post season. I suggest we band together under #grudencanwait I think we can get ahead of this thing and actually just talk about football and what a mess the Vikings are.
conjecture.. rediculous to assume a team spends a high draft pick on a player to lure a coach who’s admittedly happy where he is at.. Silly.
Gruden is a cheesy goofball, and it’s too bad. When he drops the whole, “smelling a fart right now” fake faces, you can take him more seriously. It’s obvious from his analysis on MNF he really knows the game. When he just concentrates on nuts-and-bolts explanations, he’s fantastic.
I also think it’s no coincidence that he’s done a “Gruden’s QB camp” for the last 5 years. He got an up close look at any qb he might be coaching, and I’m quite sure he was privately taking as many notes as they were.
Is it me or every year Jon grudens name gets thrown into coaching candidacy.
Great with Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson (to some extent)
Terrible with Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski, Josh Johnson
Not too good with the young guys… I don’t see the fit here.
I liken this problem much to what happened in San Diego. When you have a bad GM who hires a bad coach and you only fire the coach, you’ve done nothing to fix any problems.
If Mark Davis wanted Carr then what is Reggie Mckenzie doing there anyways?
So he convinced the owner to wait until the second round?
This is not a GM doing his job, this is the same failure situation for any GM and coach with an owner meddling
No.
Why is everyone so enamored with Jon Gruden? No Super Bowl winning coach has ever won another Super Bowl with a different team. Never.
Gruden’s next stop is likely a 3-4 year stint, then fired like so many before him.
Thanks for stating the obvious. Anyone who’s ever learned a thing about football recognizes that when there is a coaching vacancy, the very first thing you do, is look at the QB situation. Again, thank you.
Lol! They’d better hope he hires Tony Dungy on the side as personnel consultant. Real bang-up job he did building a roster in Tampa; they’re still trying to recover!
Gruden is currently torn between Derek Carr and every single other QB in the league.
Spider 2 Y Banana !
He is better than his brother. A coach other than Chuckie will take that gig.
Did Gruden draft Sapp, Brooks, Rhonde, Lynch, Dunn or Jackson?
Gruden is not a builder. He is a closer.
Lure him with bacon?
I think if anyone can develop. Carr further it is Gruden
Zzzzzzzzz
Gruden was a decent coach-10 or 15 years ago, but the man has been in a booth for 5 years so I am perplexed why so many people think he is the key to instant salvation?
History is littered with coaches who have failed miserable after extended time off-Jimmy Johnson, Shanahan, etc.
The biggest upside I see to Gruden is that he would probably attract decent assistants which is important tese days, but otherwise, I just don’t get it,
Yes, because every coach wants a QB who throws an INT for every TD pass and has a 75.2 efficiency rating.
Need a new GM before Gruden will sign.
Please take him to Oakland so I can watch mnf without the mute on
Davis is not all that dumb. Gru also should have Mark shave his head in his contact.
If Chucky is ever lured out of the broadcast booth it’s going to have to be for “All” the teams power. Not to mention a boat load of cash. He is going to have to make this decision rather quickly . He is getting older and his relevance as a coach is going to start to weaken the longer he waits for that “ULTIMATE CHALLENGE”….. and lots of cash.
The only way to get gruden is to promise he can keep 5-10 quarterbacks on the roster. He will turn the raiders into a quarterback farm, where he can sell them to other teams for other players, draft picks, kickbacks, etc.
The Raiders need someone like Gruden to right this ship. It is a shame that this storied franchise has fallen on such hard times.
Gruden favourite QB in the draft was Johnny Manziel. I think he made that pretty clear during the broadcast.
Chucky are you ready to come back to trash of Oaktown and play second fiddle to the power of the Niners in NorCal. Maybe they will take the tarp off in your honor since it is tough to sell 50,000 discounts seats every year.
Kap
Raiders offense hasn’t done much, but it’s not Carr’s fault. Kid looks good. I think he’s the real deal. Unfortunately, play-calling has been lousy and predictable and the receivers can’t get any separation and run sloppy routes.
and Davies jr could prevent gruden from signing
Yes, because Gruden is such a QB guru. Didn’t develop one in his fairly run-of-the-mill career with the Raiduhs and the Bucs. Don’t understand the love Chuckie gets.
So you are saying Davis pressed to draft Carr to lure a guy, he may not get, to fill a coaching role that wasn’t yet available when the draft was conducted? Okay, got it.
This only makes sense because it’s the Raiders. For the rest of the world, this is total nonsense.
Gruden genuinely is fond of Derek Carr. If you watch his QB Camp session with him and listen to how he talks about him it’s pretty evident how excited he is about his throwing talent.
Or maybe Mark Davis is just out of his mind?
Gruden makes good money on ESPN (rumors are 4+ million a year) doing MNF why in the world would he leave that job for the Raiders? I mean it’s the Raiders?
Gruden WILL NOT be coaching again.
I have zero sources for that, only 45 years of observing the NFL.
Why would he jump from being the well paid sage on MNF, to any team’s sideline? With the attendant 17 hour days and time away from family?
It’s way more attractive to be the resident genius, than to have to prove it….
He will not be back. I guarantee it.
Are you guys actually trying to pimp the Gruden to Raiders idea? Seriously?
Since when has Gruden ever wanted to develop a young QB? I don’t think Gruden has ever developed a young QB. He does not have the patience to develop a young QB. He has always had vets: Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson, Doug Johnson, Brian Griese, Jeff Garcia.
So what QB did Gruden develop?
He brought a veteran Rich Gannon to Oakland to get rid of Jeff George. He started with Brad Johnson in Tampa who won the Super Bowl. Brian Greese drove the ship for a year. Chris Simms gave an organ to the cause and was not considered tough enough. Bruce Gradkowski had his best year in Oakland after Tampa. Tim Rattay, Luke McCown, Bobby Howing, Jeff Garcia? Who was the QB that Jon earned his great reputation with?
Derek Carr is enough to convince Gruden to leave the salary and security of ESPN for the Mark Davis, sewage leaking stadium, dog and pony show that is Oakland? Think that’s a reach
Also the Raiders will finally get out of cap hell.
Assuming the cap doesn’t increase(we know it does but just for this case) they are looking at ~40 million is space.
Cut Matt Schaub and instantly gain another 5 million.
Gruden can instantly rebuild the team and reap the rewards of Reggie biting the bullet. Raiders had ~60 million on dead money this season and last combined.
Do you really get paid for this?…Wow
Gruden hyped Johnny football to every team that picked…especially the Raiders at 5….Skip Bayless wept
Say what you will, but Chuckie in control of the off-season and draft could lead this team to something better than 8-8
Tom Brady to the Raiders for a 2015 2nd round pick plus a conditional 2016 pick. Consider it done.
Don’t understand everyone saying raiders would be so horrible to coach.. Northern California is a great place to live.. A lot better than about 48 other places in this country. Shoot, even if they move to Los Angeles .. It’s a great scenario… And with a good young QB and a solid leader on defense in Mack. The sky’s the limit…
Its pipe dream all the haters will say, but raider nation needs a savior like ol CHUCKY. Please God make it happen.
Mark Davis looks like he’s been perpetually drunk since he ordered up that mullet sometime in the late 80s.
Why not John Madden?
The Raiders are so funny tarps and all.
Carr plus ten million a year guaranteed for five years might do it.
Please take the job so we do not have to listen to you any more on monday nights
And as that team will never be on prime time only the poor souls in the bay area will have to deal with him
Monday night football or the Raiders?
The only job whichis better is Hefner’s.
I saw hundreds of PAC-10/12-West Coast games in person between 1972-2006 and the best QB I ever saw during that period was David Carr. He was “the natural” with an unnatural touch on the ball.
Better than John Elway, better than Troy Aikman, better than Aaron Rodgers. He could be astonishing.
Then he was drafted number one by the Texans and the destruction began. With no offensive line, he was sacked a record number of times. He was crushed time and again. I don’t think you want to run any tests on his brain.
The result was he became a ruined virtuoso. If an NFL player has ever had PTSD, it’s David. An incredible promise shattered.
And now his younger brother has landed with the Raiders. Sometimes life is just cruel.
“The current thinking is that Davis wanted Carr because Davis believes Carr’s presence will help lure Gruden back to town”
Sounds like quite a stretch to me.
Derek Carr is a top ten quarterback already.
I told people this.
No wonder Gruden wants to come. Derek Carr can teach Gruden a thing or two about the game.
We know this coaching job does not appear to be attractive. But what that really means is that the Raiders will have to pay a premium in order to get a top flight head coaching candidate. A Pete Carroll type salary and a commitment to autonomy will get a lot of people to listen.
Or Harbaugh. He too is an ex-Raiders employee.
Gruden ain’t gonna coach in the AFC West. He’s not gonna beat Andy Reid or John Fox twice a year and that’s what it takes to taste the postseason. The job is career suicide. The Chargers will whip ’em too. This is a job for desperate, newbie head coaches to cut their teeth on. I hate the Raiders.
OMG another… gulp…. Jerry Jones..
cept Jerry has a better hair cut. Too much Dungeons
and Dragons, Davis really gets into roll playing!
Leave the booth to jump into a dumpster fire? I doubt it.
Didn’t he love Gabbert too?
I never thought that much of Gruden as a coach, but if it gets him out of the broadcast booth, I will be wildly enthusiastic about his return to the sidelines. Go Raiders!
When was the last time the Raiders drafted a qb and developed him into a winner?
Good luck with that. So what happens when the talent doesn’t live up to the expectations? Not like Gruden shows up and every position is swapped with a Pro Bowler. If they stink for a few more years will they trot out the ol’ “part of the plan” line?
If Jon comes back to coach the Raiders, I don’t think 8-8 his first year or better is out of the question.
Looks to me like Mark Davis is sending articles to Florio for him to publish. Why? Because Gruden would pick his own QB, and for the record, Gruden has NEVER been enticed by rookies. He would bring in a veteran.
Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson, Brian Griese, Jeff Garcia…are just some examples. He did not seem to like working with Chris Simms or Bruce Gradkowski. Didn’t have the patience.
The Key For Carr and Raiders
I don’t think this team has as many red flags as the media would like people to believe.
We have a QB dripping with potential…a stable of WR’s that aren’t #1’s by any stretch but with a true #1 it could be really solid…Jackson, Wiz and Howard across the middle of the o-line…2 solid pass rush OLB’s and 2 solid young interior D-Linemen in Jelly and McGee….a bunch of really solid #3-4 style corners and hopefuly one day a healthy Hayden…
This team is completely void of legit go out and win a matchup playmakers and that’s what is killing us but I don’t think the cubbord is bare. We need playmakers.
Mack looks like he could be that guy with Moore on the D but the offense needs an elite guy SO BAD its not even funny.
Whoever the coach is going to be, he better turn this thing around quick, I am tired of this crap. …GO RAIDERS! !
Name me one young QB that Gruden coached & groomed into a professional NFL QB…..
Yeah, you can’t because there isn’t one…
He’s not that good. Get over it.
Gruden or Carr.
I thought it was strange when reports were coming out that Mark wanted Carr during draft time last year. I really do believe their was some sort of plan here. Gruden, and Mark are very close, Mark throws the guy birthday parties. Thats how close. If you dont think they talk on a every day basis or every week, your just not paying attention to the Raiders or Mark.
these guys are just making this stuff up. Gruden is loving this, cause now espn will offer him more money.
Remember this; for all Gruden’s talents, and despite all the focus on the position in his media career, Gruden was a disaster recruiting, developing and retaining talent at the QB position.
Name once Gruden actually had success as a coach with a QB? I think you’ll end up saying Gannon in Oakland … but … how much or a real role did Gruden play in that?
Maybe his time out of the coaching business allowed him to change his stroke wrt the QB position.
Gruden will not come back, and why would Raiders fans want him back? Did anyone see how he fared in Tampa after time and salary cap issues began to turnover the roster he inherited from Dungy’s tenure?
I know that the name evokes a fairly recent time when the Raiders were a solid team, but to seek Gruden is like seeking Stabler and Dave Casper. It’s over. Move on.
What sort of team do we want to see from the Raiders? I can only speak for myself, but above all else I want to see a dominant defense and a smash-mouth run game.
Build a quality O-line and a dominant D-line and the rest will begin to shake itself out.
Mechanically and Physically Carr seems to have the tools, fantastic release, good pocket presence, cannon arm and quick release. He passes the eye test but we all know the traits of a great QB comes from upstairs. Can John open those doors and help the game slow down for Derek?
Coaching is a full-time job. Announcing is a part-time job. They both pay very well. Why give up all of the free time?
Gruden would need to have a path to a minority ownership stake to make it worthwhile for him.
I don’t think Gruden has ever said anyone is a great player without really meaning it. Seriously.
Really.
No, really.
when did Davis say Carr was Grudens favorite? And why was a owner basing his draft on what a coach he doesnt have would like?
I would cheer for a North Korean team before I would a raider team.
Good, as long as he doesn’t commentate MNF anymore I’ll be happy.
Same old Davis family. Luckily Davis was over ridden. The raiders would have been skewered and rightly so if they had drafted Carr with the 5th pick
If the raiders want to lure a good coach or better free agents then they need a proper facility to play in. Davis needs to find a location and get s shovel in the ground if he wants to build a solid football team in Oakland.
Derek Carr sucks
Well Gruden says that Derek Carr is a super smart player who gives 100% effort on every play and is just totally awesome and incredible.
Oh wait, he says that about every player.
Here is what the next coach will inherit:
-65+ Million in Cap Space
-A Top 3 Pick in the Draft, most likely #1
-All Draft Picks to work with
-Young Core of Players to build around: Derek Carr, Latavius Murray, Gabe Jackson, Stefan Wisniewski, Menelik Watson, Khalil Mack, Sio Moore and DJ Hayden (if he ever sees the field)
If you think Derek Carr is the answer at QB, you are trudging on the road to failure…
Carr is not good.
His numbers are nearly the worst in the league.
He’s the QB for a miserable 0-4 team.
He’s suffered a concussion in the pre-season.
He has sustained not insignificant damage to his ankle & MCL in the drubbing by the dolphins.
Again, the facts 100% dispute any notion that he is the future of any franchise.
The myth is that Gruden develops QBs, but there is nothing in his history showing that to be the case. Rich Gannon was already an established veteran when Gruden and him had that great run with the Raiders. Gruden then won a Super Bowl in Tampa with another veteran in Brad Johnson and after that he flailed around for several years with a mixture of young guys who never became the next big thing and veterans like Jeff Garcia who never learned anything knew from him.
dougy… dougy dougy…
stick to whatever it is you know, football isn’t it.
judging a rookie qb four games into his first year…
well, that’s not too bright, to say the least.
The Jets will make a big mistake and fire Rex as opposed to dumping that idiot GM. The Raiders will then hire Rex Ryan and Gruden will be coaching Gang Green.
Long live the incompetence of the Davis family!