The Raiders will see their tight end depth take a hit going forward. Derek Carrier will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
A blocking tight end who has been with the Raiders since signing with Oakland during Jon Gruden‘s first season back, Carrier is in his 10th NFL season. He sustained the injury in Las Vegas’ loss Monday night.
Although the Raiders still have dynamic receiving tight end Darren Waller and quality backup Foster Moreau, Carrier has been one of the better blockers at this position during his NFL tenure. He is under contract through the end of this season.
After stops in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington and with the L.A. Rams, the former UDFA signed with the Raiders in 2018. The Raiders initially cut him from their 53-man roster this year but brought him back after making IR moves. Carrier, 31, has played just 11% of Las Vegas’ offensive snaps this year but has been a special teams fixture, working on 88% of the team’s ST plays.
Carrier is one of those guys who doesn’t get much attention as a blocker or depth guy, but he’ll be a sore loss for Vegas. He’s just reliable. But Foster Moreau has shown flashes of athletic ability behind him, and Gruden has complimented him in the past. He’s more of a receiver, but maybe we’ll see more of what he can do behind Waller going forward.