Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr spoke out on social media to squash trade rumors involving beloved Raiders tight end Darren Waller.
For the Las Vegas Raiders, the past two seasons have been starkly defined by overwhelming change.
The Raiders moved from their longtime Oakland home to Las Vegas in 2020, and the 2021 season was marked by the firing of Jon Gruden and the tragic accident involving wide receiver Henry Ruggs III.
Two stalwart players who led the locker room during this difficult season were quarterback Derek Carr and tight end Darren Waller, which is further exemplified by the fact that both players were named team captains at the beginning of the 2021 season.
So when rumors began to fly that the Raiders might trade Waller to the Green Bay Packers, Carr stepped up to squash the rumors before they spread like wildfire.
Derek Carr counters Darren Waller trade rumors on Twitter
Before the trade rumors broke, Waller spoke with FanSided last week and expounded on Carr’s best qualities as a quarterback and team leader.
“DC, the first thing that comes to my mind is resilience. I think he’s played every game since 2014. Just through the teams that have succeeded and done well to teams that haven’t done as well, you know, he’s still being the same guy. I’ve been there with him when the records weren’t good and when the records have been good.
He’s still the same guy that cares about guys on the independent individual basis before he is ready to jump down somebody’s throat about what they did wrong. It’s always… he’s got your back, he’s not going to air you out. He’s not going to blame you or anything like that.
He’s somebody who’s going to step up and lead the team and say what needs to be said, challenge people where they need to be challenged. And just as a quarterback, he’s accurate, very intelligent, the line of scrimmage, check into different plays when the defense gives us a certain look. He’s a real student of the game, and very talented.”
Rather than lose a tight end, it makes more sense for the Raiders to build up what they currently have on their roster. Newly-appointed Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, who was formerly the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, is famous for his use of two-tight end sets and the masterful deployment of Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“I’m very excited about the way that Coach McDaniels is gonna challenge me and the rest of the tight end room. You see guys like Gronkowski, the way that he puts them in matchup positions to take advantage of those people that are matched up that can’t really cover him, getting opportunities to catch intermediate passes and get yards after the catch; to catch deep passes down the field, over the middle and on the outside.
So there’s a lot of different elements, and he challenges you to learn so many different things so that there’s it’s hard for a defense to gameplan for you or gameplan and say you’re gonna do these certain things if you do a lot of things well. Within the offense, it’s going to be great, and it’s gonna be fun for not only me, but for all the guys that get to make plays.”
Waller is also notably underpaid, signing a four-year, $29 million contract two years ago — it’d be impossible for the Raiders getting a better tight end for a better price.
If it’s up to Waller, the highly-valued tight end is looking forward to the Raiders in 2022 rather than looking for a way out. Waller told FanSided what he anticipates on an offense stacked with weapons like Josh Jacobs, Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow.
“In the coming months, just building chemistry, learning how… We have so many weapons now that, you know, how do we use and how do we get people involved? How do we create a rhythm within our offense?
And that’s what we’re going to be working on over these next few months because we’re going to keep continuing to grow as the individual players and collectively as we continue to learn this new system and go out there and do our best effort. That’s what’s gonna allow us to translate the products in the field that people are expecting from us.”
