Raiders: 3 potential Derek Carr replacements we haven’t mentioned yet

1. Jacoby Brissett

Brissett’s NFL career has been filled with less than ideal situations.

As a rookie with the New England Patriots in 2016, as Tom Brady served his “DeflateGate” suspension, Brissett made two starts after Jimmy Garoppolo was injured.

In 2017, as the Indianapolis Colts considered last-minute options for an injured Andrew Luck, Brissett was traded there late in the preseason. He learned a new offense on the fly, as Luck ultimately missed the entire season, and went on to be sacked a league-high 52 times as the Colts were not exactly a talent-laden roster.

In 2019, Luck suddenly announced his retirement in late-August. So Brissett was again thrust into the starting role on short notice. He played pretty well before suffering a knee injury (14 touchdowns, three interceptions, 99.3 passer rating, 64.5 percent completion rate over the first seven full games). After missing only one game, he struggled at less than full strength (75.0 passer rating, four touchdowns, three interceptions over the final seven games).

Brissett spent one more year in Indianapolis as a hardly-used backup, then he started five games for the Miami Dolphins as Tua Tagovailoa’s backup in 2021.

Finally, Brissett signed with the Cleveland Browns in 2022. He started while Deshaun Watson served his suspension, and Pro Football Focus gave him their sixth-best overall grade and their 13th-best passing grade among quarterbacks over his 11-start stretch.

That roughly three-quarters of a season with the Browns is probably the best glimpse we’ve had of Brissett in a situation with a lot of talent around him, and where he was fully healthy for a noteable stretch. That says it all.

Brissett has a tie to Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, of course dating back to his rookie season with the Patriots when McDaniels was the offensive coordinator. They also had an entire offseason together heading into Brissett’s second season, before he was traded to the Colts.

General manager Dave Ziegler was also working for the Patriots when Brissett was there, as the director of pro personnel.

If there’s not an “immediate answer” at quarterback for the Raiders this offseason or this year, as Ziegler opened the door to, Brissett looks like an ideal placeholder solution.