Derek Carr

With new head coach Josh McDaniels on board and elite wide receiver Davante Adams teaming up with purported franchise quarterback Derek Carr, there was so much hope and hype surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders entering the 2022 NFL season.

The Raiders were already coming off a playoff campaign in which they won each of their last four games to finish 10-7, and the defense was also expected to be better with Pro Bowl pass-rusher Chandler Jones joining the fray.

And yet, at about midseason, the Raiders are essentially facing extinction from the 2022 playoff picture Sunday in a tough road matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. At 2-5, they're already three games out in the AFC West—where they reside in last place. And only six teams rank lower than them when it comes to DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) at Football Outsiders.

Sure, they suffered tough, close losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs (a potential season-saver in Week 5), but their bye week is already in the past and now they're coming off a horrendous 24-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

"It was embarrassing," Carr told reporters after passing for just 101 yards in that defeat. "We are so much better than that."

Any NFL team is better than that, but at what point does Carr lose the benefit of the doubt? Being even a lot better than that might not be enough for a 31-year-old with a $40.5 million average annual salary and nearly a decade under his belt.

Meanwhile, McDaniels apologized to Raider Nation following that shutout loss in New Orleans, and it might not take much longer to wonder if he's cut out to be an NFL head coach. The longtime Bill Belichick disciple failed quite miserably in his first head-coaching stint with the Denver Broncos more than a decade ago, and he's now 5-14 in his last 19 games as the head sideline honcho for an NFL squad.

I know, it wasn't even seven months ago when Carr signed a fresh three-year, $121.5 million extension through 2025, and he's had just seven games to get reacclimated with former college teammate Adams in McDaniels' offense.

And I know, McDaniels was introduced to much fanfare as the team's head coach just nine months ago. He's had just seven games to tailor his offense around Carr, Adams and key cogs Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow—the latter two of whom haven't been healthy of late.

And that offense has been a mess beyond the quarterback position, a lot of which has to fall on McDaniels. They rank bottom-12 in the red zone despite a ton of talent, and it's fair to wonder if the guy is suited to run an NFL team.

And there's a reason why the Raiders essentially have an out from Carr's monster contract after this season. Per Spotrac, it would cost the team just $5.6 million to walk away from Carr in the 2023 offseason. And if current dynamics hold up, the front office would have to at least consider going in a new direction.

We're not just talking about a seven-game sample for Carr, who is just 12-12 in 24 starts the last two seasons. During that span, he ranks just 18th out of 34 qualified quarterbacks with a passer rating of 92.0. And only six quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions in that time period, which is jarring considering that Carr isn't exactly a legendary risktaker or gunslinger.

If he can't figure it out with this much support in Year 9, is there any point in paying him nearly $35 million for Year 10? You could likely spend a lot less on impending free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, who has far superior numbers in place of Trey Lance for the San Francisco 49ers this season. And that Lamar Jackson guy is also in possession of an expiring contract—although that's obviously an expensive pipe dream.

And then of course there's a draft class that could include electric Ohio State signal-caller C.J. Stroud, polished Alabama product Bryce Young and fellow potential first-rounders in Will Levis, Jaren Hall and K.J. Jefferson.

So there will be alternatives. And most would come a lot cheaper, freeing up space to take care of impending free agents like Jacobs, Denzel Perryman, Rock Ya-Sin and Mack Hollins.

Reuniting Carr and Adams and grouping them with McDaniels created plenty of intrigue, but if that trio can't make it work over 17 games in 2022, it might already be time to pull the trigger on one or two members.

At the very least, it has to be a consideration depending on the markets for quarterbacks and coaches, as well as the impact of just how hard this version of the Raiders falls.

The Las Vegas Raiders' leadership group, including quarterback Derek Carr and defensive end Maxx Crosby, reportedly held a players-only meeting after Sunday's loss to the Tennessee Titans, which dropped the team's record to 0-3.

Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network reported Wednesday the Raiders are "taking stock" in their sluggish start and trying to figure out how to turn the season around before it's too late.

"It's complicated," multiple sources told Wilson.

Las Vegas reached the playoffs with a 10-7 record last season before getting knocked out in the wild-card round by the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals.

Thus, expectations were high following an offseason in which the team hired Josh McDaniels as its new head coach and made a blockbuster trade for longtime Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams.

Things haven't clicked out of the gate, however, and the margin for error is already getting thin since the Raiders play in the loaded AFC West.

Team sources described the offensive line as a "mess" and also singled out the linebackers and secondary as areas of the roster not playing up to the necessary standard, per Wilson.

Carr has been sacked seven times in three games, while the team's defense has forced just two turnovers so far.

One source told Wilson they remained confident the Raiders are going to flip the script.

"This is an adjustment period," the source said. "Josh is showing people how he wants things done. Rome wasn't built in a day. When they have success, once they start winning, people are going to jump on the bandwagon. Watch and see."

While Vegas has star power on both sides of the ball, led by Carr, Adams, Crosby and tight end Darren Waller, the schedule doesn't do the team any favors as it attempts to break out of the early slump, with games against the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs coming up next.

Things do get a little more favorable after their Week 6 bye, but it took an 11-5 record to reach the playoffs in 2020 and a 9-7-1 mark last year, so each passing loss reduces the wiggle room.

It'll be interesting to see whether the players-only meeting has any tangible impact when the Raiders return to action Sunday against the 2-1 Broncos.

There was apparently another source of vexation for Tom Brady when he was examining the NFL free-agent landscape in 2020.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers star said Monday on his Let's Go! podcast (via Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times) that Ryan Fitzpatrick was not the "motherf--ker" he referenced in an episode of The Shop.

Brady said on the show one team showed interest when he was unsigned before backing out. That led him to think, "You're sticking with that motherf--ker?"

In an interview recently on the Dan Le Batard Show, Fitzpatrick said he thought he was the quarterback in question (warning: contains profanity):

Fitzpatrick made plenty of sense.

Not only were the Miami Dolphins thought to be an option for Brady in 2020, but a tampering investigation by the NFL revealed how far back their interest in the future Hall of Famer went. The league discovered Miami vice chairman Bruce Beal had impermissible communications with Brady starting in August 2019, when he was still signed with the New England Patriots.

The Dolphins had Fitzpatrick signed for the 2020 season, and he was positioned as the starter when Brady was making his final decision in free agency. Brady signed with the Buccaneers before Miami selected Tua Tagovailoa in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.

Because of that, you could understand why the 15-time Pro Bowler would be taken aback by Miami withdrawing from contention.

Alas, the mystery remains unsolved. The internet detectives will have to reconnect the dots to figure out who else it could've been.