The Oakland Raiders and Derek Carr appear to be closing in on a potential contract extension. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting the two sides are finalizing language on a deal that is expected to pay him $25 million per year.
Once the deal is done, it will make Carr the highest paid player in the NFL on an average basis. The guarantees are all that matters, but for prestige purposes, he will likely nudge past Andrew Luck’s $24,594,000 average salary. Drew Brees is right behind them at $24,250,000.
This bodes well for other quarterbacks around the league. Most notably right now are Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins. The Detroit Lions are working to get a deal done with Stafford, and team president Rod Wood said he’s willing to make Stafford the highest paid quarterback in the league. This deal for Carr would certainly help bump that number up.
And of course, Kirk Cousins continues to wait on a long-term deal. He and Washington have until July 17 to negotiate a contract extension. If it does not get done, Cousins and Washington cannot negotiate an extension until after the season ends. It seems unlikely a deal gets done by July 17, in which case, we’d wait until next offseason to see what the next steps are in this negotiation.
In the meantime, Stafford and Cousins (and their agents) are likely following the Carr news with intense interest.