Derek Carr Gets Benched For Rest of Season

After eight years as the Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders starting quarterback, first-year head coach Josh McDaniels announced on Wednesday that the team would be benching Derek Carr in favor of former Patriots draft pick Jarrett Stidham. Stidham was a fourth-round pick out of Auburn back in 2019 and has been used minimally over his two stops, including his 8-for-13, 72-yard performance back in Week 8 of this season.

The fourth-year quarterback has experience with McDaniels from each of their time in New England and is presumably the onus of the offseason trade that brought him to the west coast.

Immediate Implications

If you're to believe coach McDaniels, there is apparently no "finality" in the decision to move on from Carr, but this feels like an easy scenario to read through the grapevines. Per McDaniels,

"None of us is happy with where we're at, but we think it's an opportunity to evaluate a younger player who hasn't had much time to play," McDaniels said. "Derek was great. He understands the scenario that we're in and the situation and is very supportive of the two young guys. He'll do anything he can to help them."

Carr just signed a three-year, $121.5 million contract extension this year, but he could be cut for a $5.625 million salary-cap hit if the move is made within three days of the Super Bowl. His $32.9 million salary for next year and $7.5 million of his 2024 salary would be fully guaranteed should he be injured. Regardless of what the team says about needing to see what Jarrett Stidham can do with extra time on the field, the fact is, the team has no interest in paying that contract if the team misses the playoffs, and they have to lessen their options from moving on from the quarterback.

According to 538's numbers, the Raiders currently have a 0.6% chance of making the playoffs, which may have been something that informed their decision.

For fantasy, this limits everyone but Davante Adams, who is only 12 catches away from his fifth-straight 100-reception season, and the team would probably like to get him there. Carr's 72 incompletions to Adams were the most incompletions from a QB to a receiver in a season since 2016.

What's Next For Carr?

At face value, 2022 was one of the worst seasons of Carr's career in this first year with the McDaniels regime, with his lowest YPA (7.0) since 2017, his highest turnover-worthy-play% since 2019 (3.3), and his lowest completion% since his rookie year of 2014 (60.8%). Despite this, he could have a few different teams vying for his employment, in the AFC and otherwise. It's been reported that Carr will step away from the Raiders altogether to avoid being a distraction, which may raise some eyebrows, but teams are going to be pursuing him if he has taken his last snap with the only NFL team he's played for since coming out of Fresno State.

The teams most likely to come after him would be the Buccaneers if this is truly Tom Brady's last season, the Jets, who are having a miserable time with their 2021 first-round selection Zach Wilson, or the Colts, who absolutely love veteran quarterbacks who might be past their prime. Regardless of who it will be, the former Pro Bowl QB should remain on your dynasty team's roster until we figure out where he's suiting up in 2023.