Kansas City Chiefs: Predicting AFC West quarterbacks for 2021 season
By Cullen Jekel
Las Vegas Raiders
Current Starting Quarterback: Derek Carr, 6th Season
The Raiders are officially done in Oakland and now get to move into some fancy digs in Las Vegas. The team’s final season in Oakland, though, was another dud, this time with the team finishing 7-9 after starting 6-4.
On the field, where do the Raiders from here? Quarterback Derek Carr‘s deadcap drops significantly once the league’s new year begins, from $27,500,000 this season to just $5,000,000 next year (and $2,500,000 after that). He, again, put up mediocre numbers while showing that he’s not the quarterback to lead a franchise. In 94 games a starter, he’s 39-55.
In the upcoming draft, the Raiders have two first-round draft picks: their own and the Bears’. But since both teams performed respectably, those picks aren’t all that high: No. 12 and No. 19.
On their own, that doesn’t seem likely enough ammunition to made a trade that would catapult the Raiders ahead of the Dolphins for Tua. Heck, Herbert may even be off the board by the time the 12th pick rolls around.
Will the Raiders be willing to open a new stadium in a new city with Jordan Love under center? Seems unlikely. He doesn’t have the name recognition to pull that off, and neither do Fromm or Eason.
And the same free agents mentioned in the Chargers section still apply here: Winston, Tannehill, Mariota, Dalton, Brissett, Fitzpatrick. Would trading for Teddy Bridgewater move the needle?
Considering the viable options–the veteran quarterbacks plus Love, Fromm and Eason–the Raiders may just as well stick with Carr for one more season.
Let’s end it this way: I see the Raiders making a play for Tua Tagovailoa. If they fail to trade ahead of the Dolphins and can’t land him, then they wait until 2021. That season, not only will Lawrence and Fields head the draft class, but another enticing veteran quarterback may hit the open market: Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.
One way or the other, Derek Carr will not be starting for the Raiders in Year Two in Las Vegas. Right now, here’s who I see as the face of the Las Vegas Raiders franchise starting in 2021: