The Las Vegas Raiders are benching quarterback Derek Carr in favor of Jarrett Stidham for the final two games of the season, coach Josh McDaniels announced Wednesday.
In announcing the quarterback change, McDaniels said the Raiders wanted to evaluate their younger players at multiple positions.
Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round pick, will make his first career start Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. He is 8-for-13 for 72 yards in three games this season.
The Raiders plan to use undrafted rookie free agent Chase Garbers as the backup quarterback against the 49ers, indicating that Carr will be inactive. Carr had started 91 straight regular-season games for the Raiders through Week 16.
The move comes after Carr has thrown nine interceptions in the Raiders’ past five games while completing just 57% of his passes. The Raiders won three of those games, however, and at 6-9 are still mathematically alive for a playoff spot.
McDaniels had said Monday that the Raiders needed to “throw the ball better” to be successful.
Carr had signed a three-year extension with the Raiders in April, but they would take a cap hit of only $5.625 million if they cut ties with the quarterback before mid-February, when his $32.9 million salary for 2023 and $7.5 million of his 2024 salary would become fully guaranteed. Those amounts are guaranteed for injury only until three days after the Super Bowl.
