No, the Colts should not go after Derek Carr this offseason
Although Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders are likely to split this offseason, the Indianapolis Colts should resist the urge to add Carr.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Las Vegas Raiders announced that veteran quarterback Derek Carr would be benched for the final two games. Josh McDaniels making that decision in his first year as head coach for the Raiders surely makes it seem like Carr’s career in Las Vegas is over. Carr nor the Raiders have been able to accomplish what many people thought they were capable of this season, so Carr finding a new team may be the next step for the franchise.
Las Vegas could trade Derek Carr, who has three years remaining on his contract (an extension that was signed last offseason), or the team could release him without taking a significant financial hit, thanks to an out that the team set up in the contract. While McDaniels immediately argued that this benching has nothing to do with Carr’s future with the team, everyone else in the NFL world begin speculating where Carr would play next.
The most mentioned team is probably the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have been trying to find an answer at quarterback since Andrew Luck retired back in 2019 and they have been unsuccessful. Indianapolis has had a different starting quarterback in every season since Luck’s retirement, and while it looks like the team will have another new QB next season, that quarterback should not be Derek Carr.
From NFL Now: Are the #Raiders saying goodbye to Derek Carr? Time will tell. But the #49ers said goodbye to Jimmy Garoppolo, then he became their starter. The NFL is wacky, sometimes. pic.twitter.com/8NLpiIYb1z
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 28, 2022
Colts must resist their urge to acquire Derek Carr
Entering this season, the expectation was that Indianapolis would at least be able to get two quality seasons out of Matt Ryan but that proved not to be the case. Like Carr, Ryan has already been benched for the remainder of the season, except this is his second benching of the year. The NFL is often unpredictable but it’s hard to imagine a reality where Ryan returns to the Colts in 2023 as the starter after being benched multiple times. That means Indy’s search will start all over.
While Derek Carr will probably be an option, as will other veterans like Jimmy Garoppolo and Baker Mayfield, the Colts need to leave the veterans alone. That’s the game Indianapolis has been playing the last four seasons and the best it’s yielded was an 11-5 season with a first-round playoff exit back in 2020. Even then, Philip Rivers retired following the season. It’s about time Indianapolis learns its lesson and takes a new approach.
The Colts have chased veteran after veteran and it has gotten them nowhere. Instead, they’ve been stuck in a cycle that has resulted in underwhelming seasons and being the joke of the NFL. With Indy currently slated to have the No. 5 pick in the 2023 Draft, and a chance to move up in the final two weeks of the season, it’s time for the Colts to look for their future quarterback through the draft.
