With Jason Witten deciding to retire this offseason, the Raiders were in need of a No. 3 tight end behind Darren Waller and Foster Moreau. However, it never appeared that Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden were too worried about filling that void as they already had a player in mind to play that spot.
On Thursday, the Raiders agreed to a one-year deal with veteran tight end Derek Carrier, who has spent the last four years of his career with the Raiders. The move was first reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on Twitter:
The #Raiders and veteran TE Derek Carrier have agreed to terms on a 1-year deal, source said, as Las Vegas keeps one of its own and Carrier is set for his fourth season with the silver and black.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 18, 2021
Carrier appeared in all 16 games in 2020, playing primarily on special teams as he finished second on the team in special teams tackles. However, he’s had bigger roles with the team before on offense as he played a combined 409 snaps from 2017-2019.
With Witten gone, look for Carrier to be the team’s No. 3 tight end and to be mostly used as a blocker. The 30-year old tight end is entering his 10th year in the NFL as he has played for five different teams.
[lawrence-newsletter]