Did Raiders head coach Jon Gruden really consider pulling a control-alt-delete on quarterback Derek Carr to take Kyler Murray in the 2019 NFL Draft?
While Gruden admits he "loved" Murray, the Raiders coach told NBC Sports' Peter King that he never planned on picking the Heisman Trophy winner.
"That doesn't mean we were gonna take him" Gruden told King in the writer's latest Football Morning in America. "How do you not love his performance, his playing style, what he accomplished? I had a blast with him [when the Raiders worked him out pre-draft in Dallas]. We didn't think about going up to number one. We did look at [Nick] Bosa, [Quinnen] Williams, but not going to one."
Instead, the Raiders stayed at No. 4 and selected former Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell. That was a surprise in its own right, but there was plenty of speculation surrounding the Silver and Black selecting a quarterback early in the draft.
Despite Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock saying Carr is a "franchise quarterback," rumors swirled about the signal caller's future with the Raiders. The coach and GM did their due diligence on the position, though they say that had nothing to do with Carr's standing in the organization.
"We did our homework on the quarterbacks. You gotta know who's coming into the league at that position," Gruden said. "There was a lot of speculation that we were gonna take a quarterback. I kept watching a guy on NFL Network saying we're going up to get Murray. Then he says we're going up to get Haskins. Then he says we're going up to get Lock. We're trading Carr.
Sports
"I don't understand it."
[RELATED: Carr was 'annoyed' by speculation Raiders would draft QB]
Carr is still a Raider and already is more comfortable in Year 2 of Gruden's offense as he expressed during OTAs. Will the two co-exist for years to come, however?
That's the question that surely won't go away anytime soon.
