There aren’t many players in the world who can say they played at least the first eight years of their career with the Raiders only to continue their career elsewhere. Derek Carr is one of those people. But so too is Charles Woodson.
Woodson was drafted by the Raiders with the fourth overall pick in 1998 and played eight seasons with the Raiders, at which point the once Defensive Rookie of the Year, four-time Pro Bowler, and one-time All Pro was allowed to leave to sign elsewhere.
For that reason, Woodson is one of the few people on this planet who could lend the ideal perspective to how things ended between Derek Carr and the Raiders.
So, I asked him.
“It’s not unique. The business gets everybody at some point. At this point it caught up with him,” Woodson said of how the Raiders ended things with Carr.
Woodson understands why the Carr camp as well as his fans feel like the nine-year pro was treated unfairly.
“I think with Derek, everybody sees what he’s gone through as a player, from the amount of head coaches he’s gone through, the amount of offensive coordinators he’s been through, the year they had last year (2021) with all the off the field stuff and the way he handled it, he handled it with a lot of style and grace, and I think they look at it and say if anybody deserves a chance to leave his way it would be him. But, again, this business gets everybody at some point, and there’s never an exact science as to the way these things are handled.”
But ultimately, the team had decided it was time to move on. And the moment that decision was made, they had to move to ensure they protect their interests, regardless of any hurt feelings.
“I certainly understand people saying that he’s been wronged. But again, when you think about the fact that the way the contracts are, all that plays into the fact that if he plays and gets hurt, they’d be on the hook for [the guaranteed money in his contract], you kind of get it on both sides and that’s the business side of it that everybody always talks about.”
So, yeah, Derek Carr wanted to be a Raider for life. But after nine years and no playoff wins, the team decided it was time to turn the page.
And, sure, you’d like for him to get a honorable sendoff, saying his goodbyes to the fans or what have you, rather than the abrupt ending. But that’s just not realistic. It very rarely happens that way. And in this instance, it was simply not realistic.
I mean, we’re talking about $40 million in guaranteed money if he gets injured in two meaningless games with the Raiders having basically no shot at the playoffs, knowing they were moving on. There’s no room to factor feelings into that equation.
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