Derek Carr pays Marcus Mariota major compliment in farewell message
More major dominoes fell in the NFL’s quarterback carousel on Monday, as the Atlanta Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts and then signed free agent quarterback Marcus Mariota. Mariota has spent the past two seasons in Las Vegas, and following him landing a new contract, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr took to Twitter to share a major compliment for his former backup.
“Congrats bro! ATL is getting one of the greatest humans on the planet,” Carr tweeted.
Mariota first entered the league when he was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Oregon. In three years at Oregon, Mariota threw for over 10,000 yards with 105 touchdowns and just 14 interceptions. He was also a dynamic playmaker with his legs, as he rushed for over 2,200 yards with 29 additional scores on the ground.
With the Titans, Mariota saw mixed results. He led the Titans to a 29-32 record in his 61 starts over the course of five seasons, throwing for over 13,000 yards with 76 touchdowns and 44 interceptions. He also rushed for just under 1,400 yards with 11 touchdowns in Tennessee. Following the 2019 season, where Mariota started just six games, he became a free agent. Mariota then joined the Raiders.
Mariota sat behind Carr while with the Raiders
Carr has been with the Raiders since 2014. Over the past two seasons with Mariota sitting behind him, Carr led the Raiders to an 18-15 record, making the playoffs this past season as a Wildcard team. He is coming off of an impressive 4,804-yard, 23 touchdown season.
During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Mariota took the back seat to Carr, sitting on the bench and learning. And now, Mariota is getting his shot to become a starting quarterback in the NFL yet again. The only other quarterback on the Falcons roster is Feleipe Franks. While there is plenty of time left in the offseason, and the Falcons could potentially draft another quarterback with the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft, or with one of their later selections, right now it appears that the plan is to roll with Mariota. Atlanta gave Mariota a two-year deal worth $18.75 million.
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was Mariota’s offensive coordinator with the Titans, so there is a sense of familiarity there already. Mariota will now look to prove that he improved while sitting behind Carr, and he’ll have to do so on a team with a lot of questions entering next season.