The Las Vegas Raiders moved on from the Derek Carr era this past season.
The Raiders originally drafted Carr in 2014.
But according to one media report, the Raiders already had eyes on their next quarterback before officially parting ways with Carr.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday that the Raiders viewed then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as a “better culture fit” as the reason for axing Carr and signing Garoppolo. He added that the Raiders knew they were moving on from Carr by “midseason.”
“The Raiders, for better or worse, didn’t see Carr as a culture fit after having him in the building for a year, and they couldn’t get that wrong again at that position,” Breeer reported. “They aren’t guessing on whether Garoppolo will be better in that regard. They know.”
Breer did not detail how, exactly, Garoppolo will be a better culture fit. But it’s apparently something that the Raiders believe.
“The other thing is that McDaniels really does believe in Garoppolo. He wasn’t surprised in the least at the quarterback flourishing at the end of his first season in San Francisco, and always thought there was a little more there that the injuries wound up concealing,” Breer wrote.
How the move ultimately works for the Raiders remains to be seen. But it will certainly be interesting to follow in the wake of this bombshell report.
