The Oakland Raiders have insisted all NFL offseason they're still committed to Derek Carr as their franchise quarterback. But they've also not very discreetly flirted with drafting a quarterback with one of their three first-round picks. Carr appears to be taking notice, tweeting out a cryptic photo of himself earlier this week:
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) April 2, 2019
The picture seems to indicate that Carr is watching what is happening very closely. The tweet came on the same day the Raiders were working out NFL Draft prospect Kyler Murray, and just before they were about to work out Dwayne Haskins.
As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com writes, many are interpreting it as a message to Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Gruden also has final say in the front office, so he'll be the one making the ultimate decision about whether to draft a quarterback early. Their supposed interest in quarterbacks all could be a smokescreen to try and get teams to trade up with them in the draft, but it's hard to tell.
Gruden can be hard to read, and it's unclear if his commitment to Carr is genuine. Gruden and Carr frequently sparred on the sidelines during last year's 4-12 season, and Gruden didn't draft Carr. Gruden is known to love making a splash, and it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him move on from Carr even after his public comments to the contrary.
Thanks to the Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack trades, the Raiders have plenty of draft capital to work with. If they want to take a quarterback early, they can still add a pair of potential Day 1 starters with their other picks. The threat is, at the very least, real enough for Carr to be taking notice.