Derek Carr says he won't talk contract with Raiders after camp starts

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer

The odds of the Oakland Raiders giving quarterback Derek Carr a massive extension are very high. But now there’s a Carr-imposed deadline for negotiations.

Carr said at a media conference Tuesday that he won’t talk about his contract with the Raiders after training camp starts.

“I wouldn’t even answer my phone,” Carr said.

Carr is in the final year of his rookie deal, and will make a little more than $977,000 in base salary according to Spotrac. While it seems hard to believe that Carr would hang up the phone if the Raiders offered him more than $20 million a year after training camp starts, Carr said he doesn’t want to be a distraction, and he doesn’t want anything distracting him from getting better and winning. So he says if training camp starts and a long-term deal isn’t done, he’ll play out the final year of his contract.

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Nothing should stop the Raiders from giving Carr the inevitable extension before training camp, though there are always hurdles with contracts as large as Carr will get. Although Carr said there’s nothing new to report, the sides have been talking and Carr expects talks to pick up soon. Still, the thought of Carr playing out the final year of his contract this season has to make the Raiders and their fans queasy. Sure, the Raiders could give Carr the franchise tag, but that can lead to another set of issues. Ask the Washington Redskins and Kirk Cousins.

Carr has turned into one of the league’s best young quarterbacks and the Raiders are coming off a fantastic 12-4 season. The Raiders waited many years to return to the playoffs, and they aren’t going to start back at square one by not making Carr happy.

So the contract will get done. Carr said he wants to be a Raider for his whole career, and presumably the Raiders like the sound of that. From what Carr said, the Raiders have about two months to get the deal done.

Derek Carr set a deadline of the start of training camp to get a contract extension done. (AP)
Derek Carr set a deadline of the start of training camp to get a contract extension done. (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!