The Raiders haven’t done much in free agency. They weren’t expected to. Even still, fans are stressed.
Derek Carr is not. The team’s franchise quarterback is fine with a lack of activity that bucked a recent trend of heavy spending on free agents.
The Raiders were major players the last three years, but have drafted well enough that money will soon be given to homegrown players approaching the end of rookie contracts.
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SIGN UP HERE “For so long, our fans were looking forward to free agency,” Carr said Friday in an interview with 95.7 the Game. “They were chomping at the bit. They couldn’t wait for it, all the way until this year. … Now, Reggie (McKenzie) and (head coach Jack Del Rio) and our front office has done such a good job adding talent through the draft or free agency leading up to this, that we have a solid team. Now we just need a couple pieces to come in and help. Now we’re in a spot where our front office can take care of their own and do those types of things.
“That is a really good thing to have. As exciting as free agency is, if you don’t have to be involved, I think it’s a really good problem to have for an organization.”
The Raiders had signed offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse as of Saturday morning. That’s it thus far, though more players are coming once markets settle down. They need inside linebackers and possibly a veteran running back, two markets that have been slow to develop.
There’s plenty of talent left on the board, and McKenzie believes patience will produce good bargains.
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Carr could be an attraction to veteran free agents, and he said he’ll step in and recruit in specific situations. He does so behind closed doors at the facility, as he did luring Michael Crabtree to the East Bay.
“I will recruit, but only once I get the green light from our front office and they tell me who we’re going after,” Carr said. “I’m not just going to blindly go into something. I will and I have been a heavy recruiter. I just do it in my own way. Bruce (Irvin) has his way. He’s “Baby Reggie,” and he does his thing. I’m more sleek about it, more in the shadows.”