NFL Rumors: Raiders Could Part With QB This Offseason

The Las Vegas Raiders are 2-7 through nine games of the regular season in the first year of head coach Josh McDaniels' tenure with the team, and things are getting tense. People within the organization have begun to point fingers. The team is apparently considering moving on from starting quarterback Derek Carr this offseason, according to ESPN's Dan Graziano.

The Raiders signed Carr to an extension this offseason, but the guaranteed money was limited enough that the team could actually release him with only a net negative of $5.25 million against the cap. The $24.9 million dead cap hit wouldn't be ideal, but it wouldn't be completely debilitating.

Carr has thrown for 2128 yards and an 89.8 passer rating this season while leading the Raiders to the 14th-most points in the league and the fewest turnovers. He seems a peculiar choice to take the fall for the Raiders' struggles, but the organization has persistently reassured fans of its commitment to McDaniels, and Graziano also suggests rumors have begun to percolate of a possible Tom Brady acquisition this offseason.

Pinning hopes on a McDaniels and Brady reunion seems like a dangerous gamble for the Raiders considering Brady briefly retired this offseason and already functionally rejected McDaniels by abandoning New England in the first place. That being said, no one has demonstrated an ability to instantly turn around a franchise quite like Brady. He won Super Bowls in each of his first seasons as starter with the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Patriots were 5-11 the year before, and the Bucs were 7-9.