After a long offseason of talk about pandemics, the NFL season could not officially return until media pundits started talking about Derek Carr’s status with the Raiders again.
It’s been a little over five months since the rumors of “Brady to the Raiders” were shattered and on Monday Mike Silver of NFL Network essentially kicked off the new football year by offering his understanding for Carr’s support in the Raiders’ organization. According to Silver, Carr remains in very good status with the football fans in the Raiders’ building, and specifically with head coach Jon Gruden.
“In fact, Derek Carr has a strong stance in this business, at least for this season,” Silver said during a Monday NFLN appearance. “My understanding in that building is that Jon Gruden is firmer on Derek Carr than the people in the owner’s box.”
Gruden and GM Mike Mayock kick light when they address the Brady rumors over the winter, but there’s good reason to believe the Raiders were never serious in the mix for Brady. Some (or even most) of the Brady rumors came from the Brady camp – and for obvious reasons. In fact, Gruden seems far more attached to Carr than most seem to think.
But the ‘owner box’ is a new twist … at least in public circles.
Whether true or not, Carr is about to enter his seventh season as the Raiders start with quarterback and almost every report around him and the mischief has encouraged up to this point.
On that note, it’s not interesting how the story about Carr shifted every few months?
The same voices (yes, media voices) that have blamed Carr for the Raiders’ loss in December always seem to criticize his supportive cast in August. It happens every year. This year, however, the Raiders finally have a supply of offensive playmakers and Carr enters his third year in Gruden’s offense. For once, the stars seem to be rising up the way they should.
And Mark Davis should be very happy with that.
twitter: @raidersbeat
