NFL Rumors: Jay Gruden Opens Up About Whether His Brother Wants To Trade Derek Carr

Derek Carr has found his way into the trade rumor mill in recent weeks, but Jay Gruden isn’t so sure his brother would want to ship away the Pro Bowl quarterback.

There has been building speculation that the Las Vegas Raiders could trade their quarterback amid a larger shuffle of signal callers across the NFL. The Raiders have been named as one of the teams in the running to land Deshaun Watson should he force a trade from the Houston Texans, but the brother of head coach Jon Gruden said he believes Carr could stay put.

“I never know what Jon’s gonna do. But I’d be shocked, really,” Jay Gruden told The Athletic. “The way that Derek played this year, I don’t know why he’d want to get rid of him. But who knows, if there’s another guy out there that they really, really like, it is a business at the end of the day. You got to think about not only the year coming up but the future five, six, seven years. Jon’s going to be there for the next six, seven years so he’s got to think about that as well.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJnW2SxSLgw

Carr had one of the best and most efficient seasons of his career in 2020. He completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 4,103 yards and 27 touchdowns, with just nine interceptions. But there have still been growing rumors that the Raiders could make a run at Watson, who has reportedly asked for a trade from the Texans after a falling out with the front office over the direction of the team.

There have been conflicting reports on the team’s intentions. Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal noted that Carr would be a highly sought-after commodity for teams in need of a quarterback, and the Raiders are expected to field calls about his availability. That could leave the possibility that the Raiders acquire enough assets to go after Watson.

A league insider told the newspaper that the only way they would consider trading Carr is if a replacement ensured improvement, so the franchise would likely not start any talks unless it was clear that Watson would be coming.

Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation noted that while the Raiders are open to taking calls about Carr and would listen to offers, they’re not shopping him around at the moment. The report noted that the Raiders were on the edge of the playoff picture last season and are not looking to rebuild the team around a new signal caller.