Derek Carr Makes Admission He Wasn’t Comfortable Saying With Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most heated rivalries in the NFL. The two fan bases do not get along at all.

Derek Carr was the starting quarterback for the Raiders for nine years and he would rarely speak positively about the Chiefs. However, he’s now with the New Orleans Saints and is no longer a rival of Kansas City. This led to him admitting his admiration for Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

“Now that I’m not a Raider, I can finally say it’s one of my favorite places to play,” Carr said of Arrowhead Stadium on the June 2 episode of “Green Light with Chris Long.”

Arrowhead Stadium has long been considered one of the most difficult places for an opposing team to play in. The Chiefs are 61-21 at home over the last decade. While it’s not an easy place to play, players are clearly impressed with the atmosphere. With the team considering building a new stadium, there may only be a handful of seasons left at Arrowhead and it remains to be seen if the team can recapture the magic in a newer stadium.

Derek Carr Has Struggled at Arrowhead Stadium

It’s a bit surprising to hear Carr speak positively about Arrowhead Stadium even though he no longer plays for the Raiders. He’s played nine games in Kansas City and has gone 1-8 as a starter. He started his career 0-6 at Arrowhead Stadium before finally winning a matchup in 2020.

Carr is going to get his first chance to play at Arrowhead Stadium as a member of a team other than the Raiders in Week 5. That game will be a good indicator if Carr’s struggles in Kansas City were more due to the Raiders or just a product of how hard it is to play there.

Derek Carr Ranked Among Worst QBs in NFC

Carr had a rough debut season with the Saints. The team missed the playoffs and the offense struggled. Carr’s status in the NFL has been all over the place throughout his career and many aren’t high on him heading into to 2024.

Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus ranked Carr as the 21st quarterback in the NFL.

“What you see is what you get from Derek Carr at this point,” Sikkema wrote in a May 21 column. “His PFF passing grade has finished between 77.5 and 83.5 in four of the past five seasons. Now, I want to be clear, he is more good than bad. His turnover-worthy play rate has never been above 3.3% over that span, and his big-time throw percentage has been as high as 6.7%. But it has long felt like Carr leaves too many plays out on the field.

“In 2023, Carr passed for 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, but he recorded 17 big-time throws to 14 turnover-worthy plays, a much closer ratio. He remains a frustrating player to watch due to the dichotomy of what he’s capable of versus what he puts on tape.”

There were only four quarterbacks ranked lower than Carr on the list and one of them is rookie Jayden Daniels. He has a lot to prove this season or the Saints could start considering other options.