Two games. That’s all Derek Carr had left in his ninth season with the Raiders when the team decided to bench him. If you were the franchise’s all-time leading passer, wouldn’t you give up your injury protection just to play them? Carr says he would have, if anyone had asked. Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler never raised it, and Carr watched the finish from the sideline.

“Well, I wish you know a lot of it has to do with when you have injury guarantees,” Derek Carr said on Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch & Mike Robinson. “You guys know the business of it. If they put it out there, I would have signed a waiver. I would have done anything just to say I don’t care about any of that.

“Just let me play these last two games. I mean, we’re two games away, you know. Let me play these last two. If we want to part ways, that’s fine. But just let me finish all the work that I put in with my guys, right?”

Over nine seasons with the Raiders, Carr hardly missed any time – only two games, and only because of injuries. So it stood out when the Raiders sat him with two games left during the 2022 season, and it was not because he was hurt. Coach Josh McDaniels said the offense’s struggles over the past month were the reason for the change.

McDaniels named Jarrett Stidham the starter, kept Carr inactive, and used practice squad quarterback Chase Garbers as the backup.

After making the call, he explained his decision.

“None of us is happy with where we’re at, but we think it’s an opportunity to evaluate a younger player who hasn’t had much time to play,” McDaniels said. “Talking to Derek — who was great — he understands the scenario that we’re in and the situation. Very supportive of the two young guys. Those three guys have worked together hand in hand all year. He’ll do anything he can to help them.”

Starting Stidham suggested the Raiders cared more about testing their quarterback depth than chasing a fading playoff spot, and it hinted they were ready to move on from Carr.

“It’s more about the opportunity,” McDaniels said. “We’re all accountable to where we’re at, and I think this is more about an opportunity to see a guy that we haven’t seen play in a situation like this against a couple of good teams, really good teams.”

The numbers were not great either. Carr started 15 games, winning six and losing nine, and threw for 3,522 yards, 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. His 86.3 passer rating was the second-worst of his career, and his 2.8 percent interception rate was the highest he had posted. He still made the Pro Bowl.

But the money explains more than the stats. That April, Carr signed a three-year, $121.5 million extension that included a no-trade clause. The Raiders could still part ways with him cheaply, though. If they cut or traded him right after the Super Bowl, it would cost them only $5.62 million.

The catch was an injury guarantee. If Carr got hurt in the final two games, his $32.9 million 2023 salary and $7.5 million of his 2024 salary, about $40.4 million in total, would become fully guaranteed. The Raiders would then be stuck paying him, even if they cut him. Keeping him on the bench kept that risk off the table.

Things moved fast after that. Carr refused to give up his no-trade clause, and the Raiders released him just before the deadline in February 2023. He then signed with the Saints for $150 million over four years, played two seasons there, and retired in 2025.

A long career gives him plenty to be proud of, but those two games were the part he never stopped wishing he could change.