The Derek Carr saga took an interesting turn on Super Bowl Sunday. According to Ian Rapaport, Carr, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, informed the Raiders that he won’t accept a trade. Period.
The development in effect means that the Raiders will be forced to release Carr, and that Carr will become a free agent. That also means the market for Carr can open up further.
Carr was very close to becoming the next Saints QB, per multiple reports. New Orleans and Las Vegas had the framework for a Carr trade in place, before Carr said no. Now, teams who didn’t necessarily want to trade away valuable assets to acquire Carr could be pulled into negotiations, since now it will only cost money to make Carr any team’s next quarterback. Hypothetically speaking, if the Texans or Colts decide to go with Carr, that would impact the trade market for the Bears’ No. 1 pick in the draft. On the other hand, a team like the Saints who were interested in trading for Carr could instead turn their attention to the Bears’ top pick, if they end up missing out on Carr.
The Raiders drafted Carr with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2014 draft, and he became the team’s starter immediately. Carr has spent his entire nine-year career with the Raiders and led the team to a 63-79 record. He led the Raiders to one playoff berth in 2021, but the Raiders lost in the Wild Card round to the Bengals.