Derek Carr was released this morning (all times AEDT) by the Las Vegas Raiders ahead of a deadline that would have guaranteed the 31-year-old quarterback $40.4 million ($A57.8m) under his prior contract.

Carr, who spent the past nine seasons as a starter for the Raiders in their transition from Oakland to Las Vegas, became a free agent for the first time in his career.

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If Carr was on the Raiders roster at 8am on Thursday, the club would have owed Carr his entire $32.9 million ($A47.1m) salary for the 2023 season and $7.5 million ($A10.7m) of his scheduled $41.9 million ($A59.9m) for 2024 would have become guaranteed as well.

The moves opens $29.3 million ($A41.9m) for the Raiders under NFL salary cap rules. Carr is able to sign with any NFL club without waiting until the new business year for the league starts on March 15 because he was released as opposed to others whose contracts expire to leave them as free agents.

In 142 games over nine seasons, the past three after the move to Vegas, Carr has completed 3,201 of 4,958 passes for 35,222 yards and 217 touchdowns with 99 interceptions.

Carr sparked the Raiders to their only two playoff berths over the past 20 seasons.

In 2016, Carr went 12-3 as a starter and secured the Raiders a playoff berth before suffering a broken ankle and missing the final regular-season game and a playoff loss at Houston.

In 2021, Carr directed Las Vegas to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth but the Raiders lost in his post-season debut at Cincinnati.

But this past season, Carr had his worst completion percentage since his rookie campaign, throwing for 3,522 yards with 24 touchdowns and matching a career high with 14 interceptions as the Raiders finished 6-11 with Carr benched for the campaign’s final two contests.

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Carr was on the verge of being traded to the New Orleans Saints late last week after Las Vegas granted permission for the veteran quarterback to tour their facilities and speak with team officials, including Saints head coach Dennis Allen, who previously worked with Carr during his stint as head coach of the then Oakland Raiders from 2012-14.

The framework of a trade for the four-time Pro Bowler had even been negotiated between the teams, but the Raiders long-time franchise quarterback reportedly wanted to explore all his options before choosing his next destination and therefore informed them Monday he wouldn’t be waiving his no-trade clause for any team – essentially forcing the Raiders to cut him so that he could hit the free-agency market.

While the Saints will still no doubt be in the hunt to sign the former second-round draft pick now that he is a free agent, there will be plenty of other quarterback-needy teams in the league who will be interested in landing Carr – which could see his value on the open market increase.

However, the main motivation behind Carr refusing to waive his no-trade clause wasn’t a financial one, but rather one borne out of a desire to go to a team that gives the veteran quarterback the best chance to compete for a maiden Super Bowl ring – an opportunity he was mostly starved of during a tumultuous nine-season tenure with the dysfunctional Raiders.

Carr himself flagged as much in his emotional farewell post on social media last month.

“I once said that if I’m not a Raider I would rather be at home and I meant that, but I never envisioned it ending this way,” Carr wrote on Instagram in January.

“That fire burning inside of me to win a championship still rages. A fire no man can extinguish; only God. So I look forward to a new city and a new team who, no matter the circumstance, will get everything I have. Winning a championship is what I’ve always wanted and what I will continue to work towards.”

This latest move now deservedly gives Carr full control over his next destination and more importantly allows him to get a head start on any other quarterbacks who may be available via free agency or trade this off-season.

“Derek Carr is expected to be one of the most coveted free agents out there and in a really interesting way because no other free agents, if you are not released, you can’t talk to (any teams) right now,” NFL insider Ian Rapoport said during an appearance on ‘NFL Now’.

“(The other free agents have) gotta wait until the start of the (new) league year (March 15) or at least until right before the start of the league year when everyone does the thing where they talk to each other but don’t actually do deals because that would be illegal.

“Derek Carr gets to do all of that as soon as he is officially, officially released today and he gets to get a jump on it. I would not expect a quick free agency (for Carr). I would expect multiple visits and I would also keep in mind the Saints really liked him and their was mutual interest there as well.”

Rapoport said during an appearance yesterday on ‘NFL Total Access’ that other than the Saints he expected the Carolina Panthers, the New York Jets, and the Tennessee Titans to be among the teams interested in signing Carr.