The rumor mill has been looking for a new quarterback for the Raiders. And it’s getting under the skin of the team’s current quarterback.
The latest buzz emerged after soon-to-be-free-agent quarterback Tom Brady attended the recent UFC event in Las Vegas, chatting openly with Raiders owner Mark Davis.
Derek Carr addressed the situation on Wednesday’s official unveiling of the Raiders as the first NFL franchise in Las Vegas.
“I mean, there was a lot of quarterbacks at that fight,” Carr said with a laugh, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “And there was a lot of football players at that fight that are free agents. And it’s like, every time, with my job, it’s always a story. No matter what. And knowing some people that were around, I even know what the conversation was [between Davis and Brady], and it’s like, ‘C’mon, man, when’s it going to end?'"
(David separately joked that the discussion “was about Tom was going to fight [Manny] Pacquiao here to open the stadium.”)
Joking aside, Carr doesn’t seem to appreciate the presumption that it’s just a matter of time before the Raiders throw him overboard.
“All of these things that [you’d think] everyone would be like, ‘Yes, we’re going the right way. Everything’s getting better, and we know where we need to add things and where we [need] help.’ You would think that that would be the story. But that’s not how it works. And I understand that now,” Carr said. “Especially when people are seen with certain people. It’s like, ‘Oh, gosh. Well, I was at dinner with [Davis] last night. Does that count for anything?’ Golly. It’s just funny. But I’m used to it now. But I’ll say it this way: I look forward to taking the first snap in that stadium, and I look forward to taking every snap from here on out -- until I’m done.”
It’s not the first time Carr has declared that he’ll be the Raiders’ quarterback for as long as he wants to be. Which once again demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding as to how football works.
The Raiders will keep Carr as the team’s quarterback only as long as the team believes that employing Carr in that position meshes with the team’s best interests. The moment the Raiders believe otherwise, Carr will be gone. And history tells us that, far more often than not, the team decides to move on before the player does.