It is now obvious that the Las Vegas Raiders intend to roll with Derek Carr as starting quarterback in 2020. That being said, did the team make the right call by not bringing in Cam Newton as a backup?
It’s likely that Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock truly wanted to push Carr this upcoming season. Yet, Marcus Mariota isn’t the answer for that. Why did they not bring in a veteran signal-caller that has accomplished more than Carr instead. That’s not a slight on Mariota but rather indicative of Newton’s past accomplishments. So far, Mariota, the second overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, has seen his career fizzle out.
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Newton, on the other hand, is a former NFL MVP, All-Pro, and three-time Pro Bowler who somehow is still an NFL free agent. Even with injuries catching up to the former Panthers quarterback, the upside is still there for him to be a good backup. Especially if he’s fired up for an opportunity. Recently, Newton showed off his arm strength and accuracy on his Instagram account. Carr wouldn’t be afraid of a little competition now, would he?
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Another quality that Newton would’ve brought is playoff experience, something that Carr has none of, all of his individual stats notwithstanding. Take a brief look back at 2018. That was Newton’s last season in which he started at least 14 games. That year, he had a quarterback rating of 94.2 and threw for 24 touchdowns. Newton’s percentage of bad throws per attempt was 13.7 that season. In addition, he only had 62 poor throws compared to Carr’s 66 that year.
No one is suggesting that Newton should’ve been signed as the Day 1 starter. Instead, if Raiders’ brass truly wanted to push Carr, singing a former league MVP would’ve been more constructive. What are your thoughts Raider Nation?
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