QB Derek Carr Speaks On Departure From Raiders: “I was very upset”

Derek Carr, a former Raiders quarterback now playing for the Saints, has apologized for not giving his best effort in the previous campaign.

QB Derek Carr Speaks On Departure From Raiders: “I was very upset”

Nevertheless, after nine seasons with the team, Carr is still left with a bad taste in his mouth about how things turned out with the Silver and Black.

The current Saints quarterback was benched with two home games left in the season after starting 142 games with the Raiders over nine seasons. The choice was contentious already since the Raiders still had a slim chance of making the playoffs at that point.

Carr officially left the Raiders on February 14 and signed with the Saints less than a month later.

“I was, for lack of a better term, I was very upset; I was mad,” Carr said, via the Fresno Bee. “You spend nine years in a place, you have all the records and you can play at a high level and for something to get in the way, whether it was whatever reason, money related or whatever, injury related, I would have said I don’t even want the money, just to play two more times in front of our fans. I didn’t get that opportunity. Therefore, it undoubtedly stoked my will to persevere.

When asked if he would have allowed the Raiders keep him if they had changed their minds, Carr replied that he would have. He responded “no,” because the whole situation made his wife cry.

“Once they made my wife cry, that was pretty much over,” Carr said. “Once they made her cry, that was out. But the love for my teammates is what probably would have made me do it. But the way it worked out and the timing of things, I was just … it was time for me to move on. But who knows? You never know what will happen.”

The emotional pain brought to Carr’s wife overshadowed all other concerns, despite the fact that he had great fondness for his teammates and the Raiders organization.

It is not impossible to infer the utter grief she felt upon learning of Carr’s benching, eventual discharge, and the frightening possibility of reconstructing their lives abroad, even if he did not specifically mention the episode that caused her to cry.

“I’ve survived about 20 coaches and that’s how it goes and it is what it is.

“But I’m happy to be somewhere where we’re in a stable organization that’s been proven for years and I hope that the Raiders find something good there too, where they can keep that stability for the next guys because I know how important it is and I care about my old teammates. But for the time being, I’m just excited to be a part of the Saints organization because they’ve won at a high level for a long time.”

Carr passed for 35,222 yards, 217 touchdowns, and 99 interceptions in nine seasons with the Raiders. Carr led 33 game-winning drives and 28 comebacks while the Raiders finished 63-79 over that time, and he was selected to four Pro Bowls.

 

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