Plenty of QB questions in this week’s Raiders mailbag

With the NFL quarterback carousel in full swing, Raiders fans are anxious to find out where it will stop for the Silver and Black.

Here is a sampling of the questions that showed up in the mail this week.

DrD (@DrDraiders): Given the looming salary cap reduction, is Marcus Mariota a luxury the Raiders can afford? Sure, it’s nice to have a top tier backup QB if needed — but would it be wiser to spend the $10M his contract demands on an every-week starter on defense?

Vincent Bonsignore: You also have to wonder if Mariota would rather go to a situation that allows him to compete for a starting job and/or make more money on a longer-term contract. From the Raiders’ perspective, a lot will depend on what the salary cap looks like. If it doesn’t drop as low as originally feared, Mariota’s contract is much more palatable.

Drew Caustrita (@DrewCaustrita): What do you think the Raiders can get for Derek Carr? The defense won’t be good enough for his standards to get in the playoffs until his contract is expired.

VB: Based on recent reporting by the Review-Journal, the return for Carr could rise to two first-round draft picks. The multiple teams potentially bidding for him, his age, production and his favorable contract all add up to a healthy return, based on the thinking of several NFL general managers and decision-makers.

As for the Raiders’ defense, there are too many examples of teams making major improvements from one year to the next both offensively and defensively. To say the defense won’t be playoff-caliber over the next two years isn’t necessarily correct.

In fact, just a middle-of-the-road finish last year would have put the Raiders in the playoffs. The same level of play in 2021 could mean a postseason appearance. That should be viable if the Raiders make good decisions.

BigDaddy (@PapaJ22): What positions do you think the Raiders need to address with free agency and trades versus the draft? Or do we get one from each for certain positions?

VB: With free agency unfolding prior to the draft, the Raiders can wait to see what happens on the open market before making their draft plans. In any event, expect most of the focus to be on defense.

Dixie Normous (@TMCsean14): Do you think the Raiders trade Derek Carr?

VB: Trading Derek Carr is the easy part. There is a market for him, without question. And the Raiders could tap into it simply by picking up the phone. The trick is having a plan in place that ensures his replacement is either as good or, preferably, better. And how does that happen, exactly?

The outline the Review-Journal drew up, based on multiple conversations with NFL general managers and decision-makers, would be a three-way trade in which the Raiders divert the assets they get for Carr to Houston, along with additional assets, to acquire Deshaun Watson.

That is one of the few scenarios in which the Raiders trading Carr makes sense. Short of that, what would be the point? Starting over at quarterback just does not seem like something Jon Gruden wants to do at this point.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.