On Wednesday, amid fleeting playoff chances, the Las Vegas Raiders shocked the NFL world, announcing the benching of its $121M quarterback Derek Carr in favor of backup Jarrett Stidham.
Apparently, Carr was also stunned and reportedly left the team after the news broke.
According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Carr, not wanting to be a distraction, asked for and was granted permission by the Raiders to leave the team for the final two weeks of the regular season.
Benching Carr is a huge development but letting him leave the team for the remainder of the year is another thing entirely.
The fact that Carr thinks he’d be a distraction on the sidelines, and the team seemingly agreed, calls into question his relationship with the franchise now and moving forward.
While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Raiders’ head coach Josh McDaniels didn’t paint a promising picture regarding Carr’s status with the team, saying, “there’s a lot to be sorted through once the season is over.”
Despite signing a three-year extension eight months ago, the Raiders can cut Carr at the end of the year with only a $5.625M dead cap hit, a small amount by today’s standards, as ESPN’s Field Yates pointed out.
On Sunday, when Las Vegas hosts the San Francisco 49ers, it will be the first time since 2017 that Carr hasn’t lined up under center for the Raiders, snapping a streak of 91 consecutive games.
