After posting one of the best seasons of his career, quarterback Derek Carr inked a contract extension with the Las Vegas Raiders worth $121.5 million, which will make him a top-five paid quarterback.
The new deal locks up the 31-year-old Carr through 2025. He’ll earn $141.3 million over the next four seasons, but the $121.5 million extension is worth $40.5 million in new money per year. He’s one of seven quarterbacks in the $40 million range, including Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, Matthew Stafford, and Deshaun Watson.
“I told my agent that either I was going to be a Raider or I would be playing golf,” joked Carr yesterday.
Josh McDaniel is the Raiders’ new head coach and Carr is one of the reasons why the New England Patriots’ former offensive coordinator took the job in a tough division that also includes the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos.
The AFC West is stacked with gunslinging quarterbacks with Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, and Carr. McDaniel will have to scheme up a high-octane offense for Carr if the Raiders expect to compete for the AFC West crown. The Chiefs won the AFC West in six consecutive seasons. The Raiders haven’t won the division in more than 20 years when they won three straight AFC crowns between 2000 and 2002.
Carr and Adams reprise
The Raiders recently added Devante Adams, easily one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, in a trade with the Green Bay Packers. Carr will now have Adams and tight end Darren Waller to throw darts to next season.
Carr and Adams were college teammates at Fresno State. Adams took a pay cut to play with the Raiders instead of staying in Green Bay with the Packers. Adams wanted to reunite with his former quarterback, which is why he left the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and headed to Sin City to play for the Raiders.
In 17 games in 2021, Carr passed for a career-high 4,804 yards, which was ranked #5 in the NFL last season. He also threw 23 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He led the Raiders to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth.
In eight seasons with the Raiders, Carr connected on 193 touchdowns and 85 interceptions in 127 games. He passed for more than 31,700 yards in his career and completed 65% of his passing attempts.
As a starter, he’s 57-70 with the Raiders, but that includes five losing seasons with a 3-win season in 2014 and a 4-win season in 2018. Since 2014, the Raiders posted just two winning seasons since drafting Carr with a late first-round pick.
Despite the bold move to bring in Adams and McDaniel, the Raiders are only +3500 odds to win Super Bowl 57. The Raiders are +2000 odds to win the AFC Championship and listed as the 10th-highest team on the NFL futures board at DraftKings. In divisional futures betting, the Raiders are the long shot on the board at +600 odds to win the AFC West.