The Raiders Will Bench Derek Carr And Start Jarrett Stidham

The Las Vegas Raiders are making a change under center. According to head coach Josh McDaniels, the team has decided to bench longtime starting quarterback Derek Carr and promote Jarrett Stidham for the remainder of the 2022 NFL season. McDaniels told the press on Wednesday that the plan is to “evaluate a younger player.”

“We’re gonna go ahead and start Jarrett the last couple games of the season here,” McDaniels said. “None of us is happy with where we’re at, but we think it’s an opportunity to evaluate a younger player who hasn’t had much time to play. Talking to Derek, who was great, he understands the scenario that we’re in and the situation, and very supportive of the two young guys. Those three guys obviously have worked together, hand-in-hand, all year, and he’ll do anything he can to help them.”

While the Raiders are not officially eliminated from the postseason, the team needs a miracle, as they sit at 6-9 with two games left in the season. Las Vegas will close out the year with home games against the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

Despite noting that this is an opportunity to evaluate Stidham — who, it must be noted, spent the first three years of his NFL career in New England with McDaniels as his offensive coordinator — there is a major financial incentive for the Raiders to keep Carr healthy for the remainder of the year.

Carr has completed 60.8 percent of his pass attempts this season for 3,522 yards with 24 touchdowns and an NFL-high 14 interceptions. Stidham has thrown 61 passes in his NFL career, with 13 of them coming this season as a member of the Raiders.