Raiders mailbag: Fans have questions about Derek Carr’s future

The Raiders host the Patriots on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium. It’s the first leg of the final month of the season, which includes four games and has significant importance beyond the Raiders’ slim playoff hopes.

The final phase of the season is a chance for a number of players to prove they deserve a chance to be part of the team’s future. Fans have plenty of questions about that process. Here’s a sampling of what showed up in this week’s mailbag:

Vaughn Johnson (@_vboogie_): What are the chances of Derek Carr returning next season? Do Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler have Carr in the team’s future?

Vincent Bonsignore: While no final determination has been made — and remember, the Raiders have an out clause they can execute on Carr’s contract immediately after the Super Bowl — one must consider the final four games important for his future with the franchise. He’s owed a hefty sum of money next year, and while the injuries he is dealing with and the long-term absences of Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow have to be taken into account, the fact is Carr has not played great this season.

RaiderMochie (@MochieRaider): If the Raiders are releasing all their veteran offensive linemen and replacing them with practice squad players, why didn’t they start the practice squad players first? Seems like a dereliction of duty on the coaches

VB: The only offensive linemen the Raiders have released are reserve guard John Simpson and practice squad guard Lester Cotton, who both were beaten out of jobs. There has been no vast changeover along the starting offensive line.

Danny Meldrum (@Meldreamy): Other teams have traded or cut Raiders players who were either traded or released, which validates Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniel’s’ assessments of them. I believe we now need to wait and see how they do over the next two or three years in building this team. Agreed?

(VB): There is no question the Raiders’ previous regime missed on a number of draft picks and free agents. McDaniels and Ziegler were brought in to change that, and that takes time.

Boobie Miles (@funnybob90): Who is the Raiders’ starting quarterback next year?

VB: Too soon to tell.

Nick Bailey (@RaiderNick808): How do the players or the team come back from the embarrassing losses this season, whether it was the Cardinals, Jaguars, Colts or Rams games. Those aren’t ordinary losses.

VB: The alternative would be quitting, and there is too much pride and, frankly, financial considerations involved to do that. This is professional football. Everyone in the building gets paid to do their job. And part of that involves grinding through a season, whether things are going good or bad.

Chris Quirk (@Chrisquirk): In hindsight, did the Raiders overinvest in the running room via the draft and free agency? Running back by committee went out the window pretty quickly, and we are left with a lot of bodies in that room.

VB: Can’t just judge that by carries. Everybody on the roster plays a role, be it on special teams or situationally. And in the case of rookies Zamir White and Brittain Brown, there was always a good chance this would be a redshirt season for them. Their time will come.

Raiderspy1 (@DAP7219): Why are the Raiders waiving the guards?

VB: Sometimes it’s simply a matter of things running their course. In Simpson’s and Cotton’s case, the sense is neither showed he was going to be a part of the future, and the Raiders decided to give some other players a chance to show they can.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.