Saints’ Derek Carr unloads on Raiders breakup: ‘Once they made my wife cry, that was pretty much over’

The Las Vegas Raiders made the decision to move on from quarterback Derek Carr last year with two games remaining in the regular season and the playoffs still on the table. Part of the decision was financial due to his contract and the injury guarantees that came with it, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Carr went 6-9 as the starter in 2022, and posted the second-worst completion percentage of his career (60.8%), the second-worst passer rating of his career (86.3) and threw 14 interceptions, which tied his career high. Carr landed on his feet with the New Orleans Saints, but admitted recently that he was miffed with how his Raiders career ended. 

“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. So, it definitely lit a fire inside me to keep going.”

Carr was asked if he would have let bygones be bygones if the Raiders had changed their mind and wanted to keep him moving forward. He answered 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.”

Carr says he still wants the Raiders to succeed, even though the situation he went through was tough. Carr became a Raiders staple. In nine seasons, he became the franchise’s all-time passing leader (35,222 yards), all-time passing touchdowns leader (217) and second in wins (63). Despite registering the most upset wins (33), the most game-winning drives (33) and most fourth-quarterback comebacks (28) by any quarterback through nine NFL seasons since 1970, success was still hard to find. Carr dealt with six different head coaches, five different play callers and statistically the worst scoring defense in the league since he took over as the starting quarterback. 

“If you win more games and you keep being productive, you stay there forever,” Carr said. “But we didn’t win enough games and that’s the kind of stuff that happens with all the turnover of coaches; with all the different things. Eventually, the last guy in the room is usually going to be out at some point. And that’s really what happened. 

“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.”