Raiders Open To Dealing Either Derek Carr Or Marcus Mariota?

According to Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo, teams that have called the Raiders to gauge the trade interest for starting QB Derek Carr appear to be finding a more receptive ear than in years past. 

The trio writes that the Raiders appear open to dealing Carr if they can replace him with a comparable or better player. 

They also say the Raiders appear open to dealing backup QB Marcus Mariota, who had a strong performance in his one relief appearance this past season, if they don’t deal Carr.

Las Vegas recently re-signed QB Nathan Peterman and he would serve as the backup to whichever quarterback the team doesn’t trade. 

This is the second report of the Raiders potentially fielding trade calls around Carr in recent days, adding a little more smoke to the situation. It’s expected to be an active offseason for quarterback movement in the NFL and that could include the Raiders. 

Carr, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Raiders back in 2014. He was in the final year of his contract when the Raiders signed him to a five-year, $125 million extension that included $70 million guaranteed in 2017.

Carr stands to make base salaries of $19.52 million and $19.77 million over the final two years of the agreement.

In 2020, Carr appeared in 16 games for the Raiders and completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 4,103 yards, 27 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns.

Mariota, 27, is a former No. 2 overall pick of the Titans back in 2015.  He signed a four-year, $24.214 million rookie contract that’s fully guaranteed.

The Titans picked up Mariota’s fifth-year option worth $20.922 million for the 2019 season. They declined to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent after he lost the starting job, though, and he ultimately agreed to a two-year contract with the Raiders worth $17.6 million. 

In 2020, Mariota appeared in one game for the Raiders and completed 17 of 28 passing attempts (60.7 percent) for 226 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed nine times for 88 yards and a touchdown. 

We’ll have more on the Raiders quarterback situation as the news is available.