One question that has followed the Las Vegas Raiders for each of the last few offseasons is what they are planning to do with Derek Carr. The quarterback is consistently at the center of trade rumors as the team has yet to give him a contract extension. The issue is going to come to a head this offseason as Carr is entering the last year of his deal. There’s almost no way he’s going to want to play in a contract year and will likely be pushing hard for an extension.
When Josh McDaniels was hired as the new head coach, he quickly made it clear that he’s a big fan of Carr. That’s all well and good but he could just be trying to raise the quarterback’s trade value. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Raiders have already decided that they will work on an extension with Carr and see him as the quarterback of the future:
Sources say the Raiders are moving forward with Carr at QB and prepared to discuss a contract extension that would keep him in Las Vegas for the foreseeable future. Carr has one year left on his contract, making nearly $20 million.
For weeks, as the Raiders searched for a coach, Carr mulled his future, with both sides left to make a mutual decision about what would come next. Sources say Carr’s top choice for a new coach was actually the one the team hired. In the past, McDaniels’ and Ziegler’s affection for the three-time Pro Bowler led them to consider trading for him.
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What Could a Carr Extension Look Like?
When Carr first signed a contract extension in 2017, he was made the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. He’ll now be looking for an even bigger contract now. The going rate for good quarterbacks is close to $40 million a season. It’s hard to imagine Carr is able to break that number but he’ll get close.
Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal believes that the quarterback could be looking at a two-year extension that will add $80 million to his current deal. That would give him around $33 million a season.
I said a couple weeks ago a @Raiders + Derek Carr extension could look like this: Add two years and $80m to his existing deal. That would essentially be a three-year $100m deal at an average of $33m per season. $65m guaranteed at signing
That would put him in the same ballpark as Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff when it comes to their current annual salary.
Does This End Carr Trade Rumors?
This is best the report for Carr to come out in years. While Jon Gruden was clearly a fan of the quarterback, he did give a big contract to Marcus Mariota in 2020 to push Carr. It appears that McDaniels and new general manager Dave Ziegler want to squash any trade rumors before they get out of control.
However, it might not be entirely up to them. Owner Mark Davis hasn’t asserted his power too much since inheriting the team from his father. Mike Silver has previously reported that Davis was interested in Russell Wilson last offseason and isn’t necessarily super high on Carr. Well, Wilson could still be available in a trade this offseason. If a big-name quarterback eyes the Raiders in a trade, it’s still possible that the team could be open to trading Carr. It seems unlikely but anything is possible now that there’s a new front office and coaching staff in place.
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Raiders Have Already Come to Decision on Derek Carr’s Future: Report