Was Derek Carr the QB Tom Brady took a shot at?

Tom Brady sent NFL fans into a frenzy last week when he took a ruthless shot at an unnamed team and quarterback. We may never know which quarterback he was talking about, but there have been several theories. One of the latest makes a lot of sense.

Brady said during an appearance on HBO’s “The Shop” that he thought to himself, “You’re sticking with that motherf—er?” when one team opted to remain with their current quarterback over him last summer. Of course, Brady did not mention anyone by name. There was some speculation that he was referring to Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans. Others thought the comment could have been about Mitchell Trubisky, but Brady never had interest in playing for Chicago.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has received a number of tips about Brady’s zinger. He said Saturday that Brady was not talking about the Bears. Then on Sunday, Florio said “multiple people with deep connections to the NFL’s matrix” have told him the unnamed team was the Las Vegas Raiders. That would mean Brady does not think very highly of Derek Carr.

That actually makes some sense. Brady wanted to play for a team in a warm climate. The two finalists for him were the Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Chargers did not have a starting QB in place at the time, so they can’t be the mystery team. The San Francisco 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo would make sense, but Brady said on “The Shop” that the team he was talking about was not one he wanted to play for. He grew up rooting for the Niners and they were said to be his top choice, so that doesn’t add up, either.

Perhaps it was Carr. Florio’s sources said the Raiders dropped out of the Brady sweepstakes late and thought some of his requests for “extra things” were excessive. Carr has also been mediocre at best throughout his NFL career.

Brady provided some other great soundbites during his HBO appearance, but only one has resulted in a full-blown fan and media investigation.