Former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is in Indianapolis looking for a new team while the Raiders are in Indianapolis looking for a new quarterback.

Released on Feb. 14 after nine seasons as the Raiders quarterback, Carr has come to meet with general managers and coaches gathered in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine. Las Vegas parted ways with Carr the day before $40.4 million of his contract became guaranteed, and now Raiders coach Josh McDaniels has come to look over the leading candidates for the 2023 NFL Draft, including 15 quarterbacks.

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Asked if Las Vegas’ next quarterback could be in Indianapolis this week, McDaniels said: “He certainly could be. … I’m really excited for this process because I’m going to get to sit face-to-face with most of the quarterbacks that are here or at least a good chunk of them.”

When asked about the urgency of taking a quarterback with the seventh selection (or higher via a trade) in the 2023 NFL Draft, McDaniels said the Raiders are seeking a long-term answer at quarterback after creating the vacancy by releasing Carr.

“I think there’s always urgency at that position,” McDaniels said. “The goal for us eventually is to have somebody who’s going to be here for a long time. I think that you see the teams that are having success right now in our league, in our conference and, specifically, in our division, they’re young players that were drafted by their clubs, and they’re being developed there under the same continuity, and so I think that eventually yes.

“Do I think you have to do that if you’re not sure or not sold on a player and now you’re making a mistake just to say you’re solving a problem? I don’t really think that’s a smart decision, so we’re going to do everything we can do to evaluate every player at that position both in the draft and free agency and try to do what we can do to improve the room. There’s certainly going to be a number of players added at that position. Right now, only Chase Garbers is under contract (for 2023). We’ll look at everything we can look at, but the goal eventually is to have a young player here that’s going to be a Raider for a long time.”

Among the college quarterbacks in Indianapolis is Bryce Young, Alabama’s 2021 Heisman Trophy winner. With Young listed as 6-foot and 194 pounds on the Crimson Tide’s roster, the quarterback’s frame has raised some concerns in draft circles, but not for McDaniels.

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“The only think I would say about that is if the durability part of it was a big concern, and so far with Bryce, it has not been,” McDaniels said. “There’s different ways to throw, and so if you lack height, you have to find some windows sometimes, and really it’s about their ability to see through the rush into the defense and read the coverage properly. I’m not sure anybody’s done it better than Bryce here for a while in college football.

“Height is not a prerequisite, and I think you see that now. Russell (Wilson)’s had a great career. Kyler Murray’s been really good for his short time in the league. There’s other really good players in the league that lack the ideal 6-foot-4 height that we used to have. Fifteen, 20 years ago, everybody was kind of looking for the same thing. College football’s different. It’s producing a lot of different types of players, and guys can figure out how to throw the ball. And so to me, when you watch the tape, if the height doesn’t impact his ability to find open receivers, throw the ball well and accurately and his body size hasn’t been a problem relative to overall durability, then I think you just got to evaluate the player.”

More in the NFL quarterback mold is Jarrett Stidham at 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds. When the Raiders benched Carr with two games left in the season in preparation for his offseason release, Stidham made the first two starts of his NFL career as Las Vegas closed its 2022 season.

RELATED: IS JARRETT STIDHAM THE RAIDERS’ STARTNG QUARTERBACK NOW?

Even though Stidham is on course to become a free agent when his contract expires on March 15, McDaniels said the Raiders had not ruled out the former Auburn standout when considering their quarterback options for 2023.

“You got to go through your process and evaluate the players that are available to you in every avenue,” McDaniels said, “whether that’s a guy that’s on our roster – or still on our roster today; that’s Jarrett Stidham — evaluating that opportunity to potential free-agency options to the draft. And so there’s so many avenues to acquire players now, I think it’s just do our due diligence, try to do our work, get it in and make the smartest decision for our football team.”

Before becoming the head coach in Las Vegas, McDaniels served as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator. Stidham worked with McDaniels for three seasons there before the Raiders traded to bring the quarterback to Las Vegas last offseason.

But there’s a free-agent quarterback that McDaniels worked with even longer in New England – Tom Brady.

Brady is scheduled to become a free agent on March 15, but he’s already announced his retirement. On the other hand, Brady also announced his retirement last offseason and returned to play another season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McDaniels said the Raiders didn’t push away Carr in the hopes of getting Brady to Las Vegas.

“That decision really had nothing to do with any other player,” McDaniels said. “It really was just about what we thought was best at the time for us.”

Like Carr, quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Marcus Mariota already are available after being released by their teams this offseason.

Former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and 2022 Pro Bowler Geno Smith are among the quarterbacks headed toward free agency on March 15 if their teams don’t intervene before then with the franchise tag or a contract extension. Other potential free-agent QBs next month include Jimmy Garoppolo, Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, Andy Dalton, Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett, Teddy Bridgewater and Taylor Heinicke.

McDaniels said the Raiders are seeking a quarterback with leadership ability and mental and physical toughness who can “move the ball, score points and take care of it.”

“It’s not one size fits all,” McDaniels said, “but I think there’s a lot of things you’re looking for if you’re going to commit to them.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.