Raiders officially release Derek Carr, QB is now a free agent

The Derek Carr era (and saga) is over.

The Las Vegas Raiders have released the quarterback as expected, Adam Schefter confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Carr is now expected to draw interest from the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

Carr forced his release after he refused to accept any trades. He had a no-trade clause based on a contract extension that he signed last year.

Carr was drafted by the then-Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft (No. 36 overall). He became the team’s starter as a rookie and kept that job until he was suddenly benched by first-year coach Josh McDaniels in Week 17 with the Raiders still (barely) in playoff contention.

That signaled the end of Carr’s time with the team and Carr publicly bid farewell to the team the first week after the season.

The Raiders have just over $5 million in dead salary-cap money as part of an extension the team gave him this offseason. Carr’s release will save the Raiders more than $29 million in salary-cap space and they will now have about $50 million in cap room this offseason.

While it’s was a disappointing 2022 season for the 6-11 Raiders as a whole, Carr had a poor season, it was his worst in recent years. He has thrown for 3,522 yards, with 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He has completed just 60.8 percent of his passes.

Carr was a polarizing figure in his nine seasons with the team. Many fans supported him because he did have some success and he personally was a strong face of the franchise as a positive and uplifting spokesman who preserved through several tough on-and-the-field events during his career. Yet, others pointed to his turnovers, issues under pressure and inaccuracy at times for being a problem. In the end, Carr is the team’s all-time leader in passing yardage with 35,222 yards.

Now, the book is closed on his Raiders’ career and we turn the page to his future and focus solely what the Raiders are going to do to replace him.

Options include Aaron Rodgers, Jimmy Garoppolo or drafting a quarterback with the No. 7 overall pick.

The post-Carr era has officially begun and the divorce is finalized, on Valentine’s Day no less.