Ziegler Details the Emotion Behind Moving on From Carr

Dave Ziegler had to make a very big decision in his first season as the Las Vegas Raiders general manager.

With two games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, he and the organization decided it best to forego the franchise's future with its longtime quarterback, Derek Carr.

Ziegler expanded on the difficulty behind the decision to end what was almost a decade-long era when he joined the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast.

"A decision like that, it's a tough decision," Ziegler said. "There's a lot of emotion involved in that decision, too. ... Derek Carr is a phenomenal human being. It's hard not to like Derek Carr. And it's hard not to like Derek Carr not just because he has a great personality -- he's kind, he's caring, he's respectful, all of that different stuff -- but he was with the Raiders for nine years, playing arguably the most difficult position to play in sports. The quarterback's a tough position to play in totality.

"And so, to see a guy who's played, again, he's played nine years for the same organization, and having to decide that, there's a lot of emotion involved in having to make that decision. And it's a hard decision to make. And at the end of the day, that's what we get paid to do, is make hard decisions. And we have to make a lot of hard decisions throughout the year. I mean, that's the most high-profile one, but there were a lot of decisions throughout the year that were hard decisions to make, whether it was deciding with John[athan] Abram or Alex Leatherwood.

"Again, all those decisions are hard decisions like we talked about at the beginning. One: because it's someone's livelihood and people that are really dedicated to their craft, too. And so, they're all hard, and they're all decisions you don't want to have to make. And again, I think that one was even a little bit more difficult because of what he's meant to the Raider organization and just who (Carr) is as a human being."

The 2023 NFL Draft will go from April 27-29 and be held at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. The NFL Scouting Combine is Feb. 28-March 6, 2023, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. The club's deadline to designate Franchise or Transition Players is March 7, 2023, before 4 p.m. EST.

March 13-15 is the free agent negotiation period. Starting at 12 p.m. EDT on March 13 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. EDT on March 15, clubs are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2022 Player Contracts at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15.

The 2023 NFL Year and Free Agency period begins at 4 p.m. EDT on March 15. The Raiders are expected to be significant players in the free-agent market this season.

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