NEWSLETTER
The Chicago reaction to the Broncos mess has primarily been, “Whew, we dodged a bullet there!” In the offseason leading up to the Bears drafting Justin Fields, there were strong connections between the Bears and Seahawks as potential trade partners for Russell Wilson.
In fact, Dan Patrick even reported that the Bears offered the Seahawks three first-round picks, a third-round pick, and two “starters,” but Pete Carroll vetoed the trade. Well, thanks, Pete. Wilson has had a terrible season in Denver after the Broncos paid a similar price to the Seahawks one offseason later.
Now, another quarterback who was linked to the Bears that offseason, Derek Carr, has been benched by the Las Vegas Raiders for the final two games of the season after he threw his league-leading 14th interception on Saturday night in a loss to the Steelers.
In February 2021, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal named the Bears as a potential suitor for Derek Carr in a trade in which the Raiders reportedly wanted at least two first-round picks for Carr.
Whether or not the Bears actually explored that trade like they did the Wilson trade isn’t known, but one thing is for certain, I’m sure glad that it didn’t happen.
Carr, 31, has spent each of his nine NFL seasons with the Raiders and has thrown for 35,222 yards, 99 touchdowns, and 87 interceptions. Still, the league-leading 14 interceptions — the same number he threw last season — has the Raiders reconsidering what they’re doing with the quarterback position long term.
Las Vegas will start Jarrett Stidham for the season’s final two games. Stidham has never started an NFL game and has only thrown 61 NFL passes.
With the Raiders out of contention and Carr benched for the inexperienced Stidham down the stretch, I wonder whether or not the Raiders would be willing to listen on Carr’s pal and old college teammate Davante Adams this offseason.
The Bears need a legitimate No. 1 WR, and Adams is undoubtedly that. If Las Vegas is going to pivot from Carr long-term, maybe they’ll be willing to trade Adams and free up that cap space while they re-tool for a future that is still a few years away at that point.
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said today, “there’s a lot to be sorted through once the season is over.” If Vegas wants an out, there is one:
