The Las Vegas Raiders said Wednesday that head coach Josh McDaniels will benching Starting quarterback Derek Carr for Jarrett Stidham. The move may not just be for the final two weeks of the regular season, as Kerr may have played a final down for the Raiders.
While Carr signed 3-year, $121.5 million extension This past offseason, if the quarterback was released or traded this next offseason, Vegas would have saved $30 million. The Raiders’ longtime signal-caller was a major reason why Vegas acquired star his wideout Davante Adams this offseason. But after just 15 games with the Raiders, those days may be over.
On Wednesday, Adams talked about Kerr’s benching while speaking to reporters in his locker.
“Obviously I don’t think anyone here was thrilled,” Adams said. Via Levi Edwards of the Raiders“He’s one of my really good friends and the reason I came here in the first place. I mean if he wasn’t here I wouldn’t be here now. I think you know how I feel. We support it at this point.”
Adams caught 88 passes for 1,290 yards and a league-leading 12 touchdowns, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. In his last three games he has 114 yards and he has caught only 9 of 25 targets and has zero touchdowns. Kerr targeted Adams in the fourth quarter of the season and he was 16 of 51 targets. Kerr reportedly won’t even be in the building for the rest of the season. NFL Media Reported that the quarterback walks away to avoid distractions.
The Raiders are 6-9 and are not yet out of playoff contention, but could be out this weekend. McDaniels said this is an opportunity for young players who haven’t played much to take a chance, and Kerr understands the situation.