Derek Carr retired from the NFL after the 2024 season. But if Aaron Donald and Philip Rivers can be tempted to come back, so can the former Raiders QB. Carr seemed very enthusiastic about potentially coming back to the gridiron in a recent podcast appearance.
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“If me and Philip Rivers are getting five or six calls a year, you know that there’s something going on, right, with quarterback development, like we say, ‘We’re done. We’re retired,’ and you’re still calling us, right?” Carr said on the Get Got Podcast with Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson.
“It’s all about just taking care of the football, just being able to see the defense and know where to go with the football on time. And so I think I could still do that? Absolutely. I could do it at a high level. I still can rip it. I work out six times a week. I take care of my body just like I used to, just for overall health.”
Back in July, in an interview with Good Morning America, Carr opened up about the teams that tried to reach out to him and woo him to come out of retirement.
“There were multiple teams that reached out to me this offseason. I won’t say who or how, but they reached out and was just gauging my interest on what I wanted to do. They were good, solid football teams,” Carr said. He added that if he had to return, it would have to be with a “special team.”
Carr’s NFL career was largely spent with the Raiders, where he played for nine years. He was released after the 2022 season after a particularly bad season, and was even benched that year. Carr then spent two years with the New Orleans Saints, after which he retired because of a right shoulder injury. Carr finished with 41,245 passing yards, 257 touchdowns, and 112 interceptions.
Carr has technically been away for only a year. And with him already confirming that teams are interested, who knows, another one might sign him up if the fit is appealing to the QB. Whether this turns out to be the Raiders remains to be seen.
Given the overall picture, the Raiders have enough reasons to feel proud of current QB1 Kirk Cousins. His 16 touchdowns are tied for the most in the league so far, and his 1,877 passing yards rank him fourth-highest.
However, the Raiders have lost four straight games after a hot 3-0 start orchestrated by Cousins and Co. With their playoff hopes threatened, there is a growing feeling that Cousins might not be able to handle the heat of the schedule.
“And if we can’t compete, you know, no matter where we sit in the standings, that’s to me the time where you start to go, okay, is it time to, you know, kind of speed this thing up and get Fernando [Mendoza] out there and kind of let our veterans know, hey, we gave it a run,” Kurt Werner said on the Rich Eisen Show.
The rookie Mendoza has only played a few snaps in the Patriots game so far. It will be very early for him to take over as QB1 despite a struggling Cousins. He needs some more time to get used to the game before the Raiders actively look at Mendoza as the starter.
Right now, they are confident with Kirk Cousins taking the lead. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak has confirmed the veteran will remain the starter for the upcoming matchup against the New York Jets.
“[Cousins is] playing at a very high level, and he’s got to continue to do that for us to win,” the HC said on Monday, via ESPN. “We got to keep helping all the areas around him. [I’m] excited for him to go play against the Jets.”