Derek Carr is in the midst of his third offseason with Jon Gruden. Heading into each one, he has heard all about how he would be replaced as the Raiders' starter.
Las Vegas did bring in a veteran QB -- Marcus Mariota -- while Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock used the No. 12 overall pick on wide receiver Henry Ruggs III before drafting two more skill players in the third round. Carr said he's been kept in the loop the entire time and never had any concerns about his job security.
"No. And I say no without getting into too much detail," Carr told Vic Tafur of *The Athletic*. "I can tell you that Mr. Mayock and Mr. Gruden both called me and said that they did their due diligence on everything. ... And they can tell you that in their own words. I am not going to say what they said, because it's kind of awesome and I don't want them to have to answer for it. But I felt very comfortable with what they said.
"I've never been blindsided by these guys. That would be the only time I'd be mad, but every word that they've said to me, they have stuck true to."
That apparently included their interest in signing Mariota. The former Titans starter and 2015 No. 2 overall pick was given an incentive-laden, two-year deal in March. Carr said it's part of the Vegas braintrust's plan to put together the "best quarterback room in all of football."
"People don't really know the extent that Mayock, myself and Gruden communicate," Carr said. "... And so, I knew. I knew that he was on the list of one of the guys that Gru wanted. Because if I were to break a shoelace, as Coach would say, you know, he, you know he likes having Marcus here to do A, B and C."
Others might read the situation differently, given Gruden's well-known admiration for Mariota's game. But Carr, who set career highs in completion percentage and yards last season while cutting down on interceptions and taking far fewer sacks, insisted he's not looking over his shoulder.
"I gotta be honest with you, it doesn't even bother me one bit," he said. "And that is being completely true to myself. No one outside of who I am is going to push me harder than me."
Carr also wasn't insulted that the front office kicked the tires on Brady. After reviewing the film, the Raiders ultimately decided to run it back with their seventh-year starter. He opined that his bosses would have been "crazy" not to consider the future Hall of Famer.
"At the end of the day, you know, you can have 32 GMs watch the film and 16 may say this and 16 may say that," Carr said. "Obviously, our GM and coach made their decision. I know we live in a world of hot takes, and we gotta make some controversy, but the guy won six Super Bowls and every team in the league popped in his film when he became a free agent. I will just say that I'm glad to be our quarterback and I was very, very confident that I would be the whole time."
