One reason Seahawks should add Derek Carr and two reasons not to
By Lee Vowell
Reason for Seahawks to add Carr: He’s a leader and great in the locker room
The Seahawks currently have a young team (the 11th-youngest in the NFL) and they are about to get younger. Instead of likely signing veteran free agents to add talent to the team, Seattle has a bunch of high draft capital in the 2023 NFL draft to get high-end players. Young teams need veteran leadership and this is something that Carr can supply in spades.
No offense to Geno Smith who has been mostly very good for Seattle in 2022, especially in the early part of the season, but Carr has a lot more starting experience in the NFL. He has been the starter for the Raiders since 2014. While those Raiders teams haven’t all been successful when the team has failed it hasn’t really been Carr’s fault. In fact, this season while the Raiders are 6-9 and Carr hasn’t had anywhere near his best year, much of the blame for Carr’s off-year is probably due to the horrible coaching of McDaniels.
But Carr has made some of his biggest impacts as a leader when his teammates needed him most. For instance, when former Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs was involved in a horrible car crash, Carr didn’t simply say a few words and move on. He actually had a fairly moving speech about how there might not be anyone who wants to reach out to Ruggs but he would be there for Ruggs if Ruggs wanted to talk.
Plus, Davante Adams is in Las Vegas with the Raiders simply because he wanted to play with Carr – the two played in college together – again. I have heard no one say any ill words about Carr and, as opposed to Russell Wilson, his off-field words don’t seem rehearsed and appear completely genuine. Carr is the guy if the Seahawks want to get a veteran leader as a quarterback in 2023 (assuming Geno Smith doesn’t return).