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There’s no telling how long Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr will play for the team after seven up-and-down seasons.
Carr, 30, has been the subject of trade rumors on a near never-ending loop since Jon Gruden took over as Las Vegas’ head coach back in 2018. The two have had a questionable relationship with the Raiders, going a combined 19-29 in three seasons.
For Carr, this has not stopped him from looking further into the future. Joining the likes of Tom Brady and Russell Wilson in this category, the former second-round pick believes he can play until he’s 45.
“I feel like I can play another 15 years, without a doubt,” Derek Carr said, via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “Nothing’s hurting. It’s the middle of camp, and I feel great. I feel strong, I feel fast, I feel explosive. And I think it’s just the way we train now.”
It’s one thing for an accomplished player such as Brady to believe he can succeed at the age of 45. The dude just won his seventh Super Bowl at the ripe age of 43. Heck, Wilson has been among the best quarterbacks of his generation since joining the Seattle Seahawks back in 2012. Carr? Well, that’s a different story.
Derek Carr stats
- 2014: 58.1% completion, 3,270 yards, 21 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 76.7 rating
- 2015: 61.1% completion, 3,987 yards, 32 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 91.1 rating
- 2016: 63.8% completion, 3,937 yards, 28 touchdowns, six interceptions, 96.7 rating
- 2017: 62.7% completion, 3,496 yards, 22 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 86.4 rating
- 2018: 68.9% completion, 4,049 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 93.9 rating
- 2019: 70.4% completion, 4,054 yards, 21 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 100.8 rating
- 2020: 67.3% completion, 4,103 yards, 27 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 101.4 rating
We display these stats to show you that Carr has been a pretty darn good statistical quarterback since entering the league from Fresno State. He’s earned three Pro Bowl trips, is coming off three consecutive 4,000-yard seasons and two consecutive campaigns with a QB rating of over 100.
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That’s all fine and dandy. But a career that once seemed destined for Carr to become elite has taken a turn in recent seasons. He simply has not improved at the level most anticipated after leading the then-Oakland Raiders to a 12-3 record in 15 starts back in 2016.
Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders
The question now becomes how long Carr’s marriage with the Raiders will last. The quarterback indicated recently that he’d rather retire than play for another team. That seemed to be hyperbolic at a time when the focus around the NFL was on Aaron Rodgers’ trade request from the Green Bay Packers.
What we do know is that Carr and Gruden have a complicated relationship. The head coach’s flirtation with other quarterbacks in the recent past only adds to this narrative.
Depending on how the 2021 season goes in Vegas, it could be Carr’s last with the Raiders. If so, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to believe that he’ll simply just hang of those cleats.