Michael Irvin calls out Josh McDaniels for using Derek Carr as scapegoat for Raiders failure - "Problem wasn't the offense"
The Las Vegas Raiders are under immense pressure to perform in 2023. Fresh off a disappointing 6-11 season, which turned out to be Derek Carr's final year with the team, Josh McDaniels needs to figure out how to compete with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers if he wants to keep his job.
His choice of a new quarterback was interesting, to say the least. While he knows Jimmy Garoppolo from their days with the New England Patriots, he's not a clear upgrade over Carr. Letting go of a beloved franchise quarterback was a risk that needs to bear fruit in the short term.
Former NFL wide receiver Michael Irvin feels McDaniels used Carr as a scapegoat for the Raiders' failures, instead pointing out that the defense was a bigger problem. He also suggested that the recent signing of Marcus Peters will help the team as a whole:
"I got to see it play out now, he was a great star in New England. That offense knows it. It's going to be helpful for the Raiders, but the Raiders' problem wasn't Carr - the defense was the problem a lot of the time. So they put up a lot of points on other teams, but the defense couldn't hold it. So Marcus Peters might help him out this year."
“The #Raiders problem wasn’t always a Carr problem.” Michael Irvin on the state of the Raiders.
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Marcus Peters agrees to join Raiders on a one-year deal
The star cornerback, who has played for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Ravens, remained a free agent until mid-July before netting a one-year deal with Las Vegas. He figures to be a big part of what they're going to do defensively.
The deal wasn't officially announced, but many reports point to it as a $3 million deal with incentives to go around $5 million.
He met with the team's brass earlier in the offseason, but the Raiders wanted to see him in better shape before officially putting pen to paper. There's no doubt that he'll start as an outside cornerback once the season starts, as Las Vegas lacked talent in the position.