Carr upset by rumors that the Raiders would be looking for a QB

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Derek Carr said he was confident that the Oakland Raiders would not be hiring quarterbacks this season, but he acknowledged the constant swirl of speculation on his skin.

"Honestly, it was annoying after a while," admitted Carr after the team's first team training session, during his first meeting with local media. the Bay Area since the last game of the 2018 season. "I'm like," Really, they have nothing else to say? " And I did not help the situation, trying to challenge people to fight. "

Carr laughed, but he was not happy in January when he, in fact, challenged Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman of ESP First Take to an MMA-style match because of critics. that they made to Carr.

The fact that the Raiders did not choose any QB among their nine selections in the April draft (instead of staying with Carr and Nathan Peterman's replacements, Mike Glennon and Landry Jones), did not make any difference. did that strengthen Carr as a franchise quarter. Especially after conversations with owner Mark Davis, general manager Mike Mayock and coach Jon Gruden.

"We're still on the same page because that's what our team needs," Carr said. "That's what good organizations do."

That's why, Carr, 28, said that there was a "probability of minus 47% in my mind" that Oakland was about to recruit a quarter, though it was not the same. he is linked to Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins and Drew Lock.

"They pretty much said that, literally every time it happened," said Carr to get confidence votes from the reception desk. "If that happened, and we're not just playing for this year, Honestly, I'll be here for a long time."

Gruden said Carr had done "a lot of good things" last season, and adding weapons such as receiver Antonio Brown, who had not attended the first training session of OTA volunteers after have been at the top of the first phase of the offseason training program, and Tyrell Williams. and the right tackle Trent Brown, "I hope many of these things will come up and that it will be a great quarter, as I know it will be."

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"I think he's pretty well respected as one of the best football football players," added Gruden. "I think it's a lot more sporty than people think, I think if we can [maintain] continuity in this building with the system and supporting actors, improve the defense, I think that it can be one of the best in football. "

Nevertheless, as Carr enters the third year of his $ 125 million five-year extension, his base salary of $ 19.9 million for this year is already guaranteed. And if he and the Raiders fight fiercely this season, new speculation will multiply, especially as the money lost to the Raiders would cost about $ 5 million if they cut or traded it during the next season. Then start these stories of Is-Derek Carr-the-Raiders in Las Vegas.

"No doubt, no?" Carr said laughing. "Here we go again, let's just get over this year and we'll play this game again and I'm going to have a little more fun with it.

"But I'm not going anywhere, it's my team and it will be for as long as I want."