Quarterback Derek Carr has been a free agent for a week. The unrestricted free agent market opens in less than three weeks.
Time, as they say, is a waste.
Carr’s brother David told NFL Network Monday that Derek still wanted to take his time.
“It’s going to be a long process,” David Carr said on NFL.com. “He wants to do his due diligence and see as many places as possible to get a feel for what will be the best place for him.”
That’s fine, but its lead over the rest of the market will quickly evaporate, especially with the Scouting Combine (a/k/a Tampering Central) just a week away. That’s when upcoming free agent teams and agents start talking serious turkey.
The problem for Carr is that interested teams already know there will be other options, via free agency or trade. These options already exist in practice. (In fact, the manipulation has already begun.)
Other teams take their time for the same reason that Carr takes their time. With an unprecedented game of quarterback music chairs about to roll, the fact that the music started a little earlier for Carr doesn’t matter that much.
The challenge for every quarterback, including Carr, will be making the right deal at the right time. Teams looking for quarterbacks will go to Plan B and so on, and all that money in the budget will also be gone quickly.
Continue reading