Silver Minings: Derek Carr weighs in on Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler

Raiders’ QB has good things to say about new head coach and GM

Part of the reason the Las Vegas Raiders hired former New England Patriots offensive coordinator and director of player personnel Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler as their head coach and general manager was that they have big plans for quarterback Derek Carr.

It’s been reported that both McDaniels and Ziegler think highly of Carr and want to build around him, as rumors have surfaced about an impending contract extension for the eight-year veteran. Well, the feeling appears to be mutual as the quarterback spoke publicly for the first time the other day and had nothing but good things to say about his new bosses.

“They’ve been super awesome. They’ve been great,” Carr said, per The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I’m just looking forward to getting to know them. We’re doing the whole business relationship thing, but hopefully, we can get our families together and start getting to know each other and start building that unity that we had last year.”

Carr was vocal about wanting the Raiders’ brass to retain interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, which obviously didn’t happen, so it’s good to see/hear that he has a good relationship with and is in support of the team’s new leader, despite McDaniels not being his first choice.

The signal caller also weighed in on his contract extension and how it might impact the Silver and Black’s opportunities to sign other big-name free agents, most notably his former college teammate and current Green Bay Packer Davante Adams.

“Obviously, that’s in mind when I’m thinking about all that [in reference to a top-of-the-line extension]. But there’s also some football players that I want to play with, so I keep that in mind, too.”

In other Raiders links:

• Small-school speed receiver making big waves: North Dakota State’s Christian Watson could be what the Raiders need out wide and then some.
• Interview with Josh Rivas: get to know a potential mid-round offensive lineman who could be headed to Las Vegas soon.
• Football Outsiders believers Raiders Wild Card birth was a fluke: “The Raiders are Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller, and a bunch of thirtysomething veterans and slot receivers. They need to either rebuild from the ground up or gingerbread the current roster in pursuit of more fluky wild-card berths. And Josh McDaniels didn’t leave the comfort of the nest because he wanted to rebuild,” via Mike Tanier.
• Madd Maxx settling down: for some wholesome news, Las Vegas’ premier pass rusher got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Rachel Washburn, on Friday. Congrats!!!