Dysfunction and the Las Vegas Raiders go hand in hand, joining other franchises like the Cleveland Browns and Washington Commanders. The Silver and Black’s offseason has been nothing but quiet. The latest developments to add to the never-ending saga: Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd and New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson chiming in this week for one.
Cowherd, a master at making waves, made easy work of the Raiders recently. Truth be told, given all the dysfunction, it’s not that difficult to do so. Johnson, for his part, believes former Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is in the best situation of his career.
Are the las Vegas Raiders a volcano ready to erupt?
Colin Cowherd went off on the Raiders during his Wednesday show as he gave his thoughts on the Josh Jacobs situation. However, the radio host went deeper into the organization as a whole.
“[The Raiders are] basically a volcano with a logo,” Cowherd said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” “They’re always bubbling under the surface. So, a story today is Josh Jacobs, their star running back, could hold out. This after Jimmy Garoppolo failed a physical. This after the head coach, in his first year, had to meet with the owner behind closed doors.”
“A third of it is in annual perpetual chaos. I mean, Aaron Rogers could be prickly and, at times, a little passive-aggressive, not a lot of drama. There was no chaos in Green Bay. Be careful about leaving. Boring and predictable because Cleveland, the [New York] Jets, Washington, Raiders, Houston [Texans], Arizona [Cardinals], [and] Chicago [Bears], there’s drama always bubbling right below the surface.”
Along with the Garoppolo and Jacobs cases, Vegas made questionable decisions regarding Carr and Darren Waller.
Have the Raiders made “questionable” decisions?
Regarding Carr, the Raiders extended him to a three-year, $121.5 million contract in 2022. However, the franchise cut their signal caller one year into that extension to save money.
Cutting the 32-year-old allowed the Raiders to get off the hook for $40.4 million. If Carr were still with Vegas, they’d have to pay him his full $32.9 million salary for 2023, which would have become guaranteed. Additionally, $7.5 million of his $41.9 million salary for 2024 would be guaranteed too.
Moving on from Carr after one season into a new contract is confusing from Vegas’ perspective. It allowed the Raiders to waste a year on a guy who wouldn’t be their franchise quarterback.
As for Waller, the 30-year-old suffered the same fate. The Silver and Black inked him to a three-year, $51 million contract extension before the 2022 season. Waller was dealt to the New York Giants not even a year after signing that deal.
It’s been a questionable decision after a questionable decision. For the fans’ sake, the Raiders have to hope that the Garoppolo signing works out despite offseason foot surgery. Meanwhile, Vegas has to find common ground with Jacobs and have their star running back for 2023.
Juwan Johnson takes an indirect swipe at the Raiders…
Carr recently opened up about his exit from the Raiders and mentioned the lack of success. The new Saints signal caller stated that the rotating chair of head coaches hurt any chances of establishing a winning culture.
The veteran quarterback is now in a new situation with New Orleans. His new tight end also believes that the Saints are offering Carr the best offensive roster of his career.
Carr had various weapons during his time with the Raiders, including Davante Adams. Despite players like Adams, Johnson fired off the hot take, likely backing his new quarterback after Carr’s recent interview.
“I feel like with Derek, there’s a lot of things you can do,” Juwan Johnson said in a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio (h/t Pro Football Talk). “He’s been in an offense where he’s had Josh McDaniels, Jon Gruden, so he has a lot of that he can bring over to our offense. Obviously, we have a lot of pieces on our offense — which I think he’s probably never had before. So that’s something that he can use a little bit.”
The NFC South is a wide-open division, and Carr is likely the best quarterback in the division. Taking the Saints to the playoffs will be a way for Carr to stick it to the Raiders. Still, if he fails, then Vegas is going to look smart for moving on from him.
*Top Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sports Wire via Getty Images
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