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Raiders Rumors: Las Vegas Did 'Extensive Work' on 2021 NFL Draft QB Prospects
April 23, 2021
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is constantly tinkering with his roster, so it's no surprise he's reportedly done a lot of homework on the top quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL draft class.
Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Raiders have done "extensive work on all of the top" draft quarterbacks and could take one if one of them falls out of the top 10 picks.
Leading up to the draft, most analysts are projecting the top three picks to be quarterbacks. Other teams picking in the top 10 that could address the position include the Detroit Lions (No. 7), Carolina Panthers (No. 8) and Denver Broncos (No. 9).
Even though Derek Carr is coming off a solid 2020 for the Raiders, Gruden was non-committal about having the 30-year-old back next season.
"He played good," Gruden told reporters in January when asked if Carr would be the starter in 2021. "I'm not going to get into all the next-year scenarios. I'm just going to say that 7-9 is a step forward. We took a step forward. Statistically, I think we took a step forward. We've got to get a lot of guys healthy and we've got a lot of things to look at and evaluate before we start making any assumptions."
There were rumors early in the offseason that the Raiders were considering trading Carr. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on SportsCenter in February that it "would take a pretty big haul" for Las Vegas to move the three-time Pro Bowler.
Rapoport didn't specify if the Raiders would trade up for a quarterback if one of the top players falls out of the top 10. Las Vegas currently has the 17th overall pick in the first round.
Carr is under contract through the 2022 season, but his deal only includes $2.5 million in dead money this year and none next year. He threw for a career-high 4,103 yards with a 67.3 completion percentage and 27 touchdowns in 2020.