In Focus: The Numbers Within Raiders QB Carr’s Contract
Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr finally got the extension he deserved. Now, he set the bar for the highest paid player in the NFL. A five-year $125 million contract with $40 million guaranteed. Here’s the contract breakdown.
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When the story broke and all the other sports media outlets ran articles, you couldn’t help but scroll on down to the comment section. I know I did, and I know I had lots of arguments with opposing fans and general haters. Uninformed opinions ranged from “he doesn’t deserve it” and the Raiders will never be able to afford Mack and Cooper’s upcoming contracts. I’m here to guide you, like Moses parting the Red Sea, through the blind and biased masses.
If you know anything about Reggie McKenzie and how he hands out contracts, this will be very familiar to you. Heavy guaranteed money on the front end with little in base salary, then heavy base salary with little guaranteed money on the back end should the need arise. If the Raiders need to back out of a contract with very little damage to future cap space in dead money, this helps. Carr’s contract is no exception. Small base salary with the majority of his guaranteed money n those first two years, followed by a large base salary with very little in guaranteed money during the last 3. His contract also calls for a sixth year option.
Derek Carr absolutely deserves this contract, despite what naysayers say. He’s a young, extremely talented, franchise quarterback. Those are rare to come by, remember how bad when Oakland didn’t have one? Of course you do. Those memories haunt Raiders fans. We call those the dark years. The sun has risen and is now shining as bright as the Vegas sun in July. Quarterback contracts are on the rise and will be so in the foreseeable future, Carr’s contract will be surpassed by the next young QB that signs an extension, that’s just the way the league is heading. Tom Brady, Big Ben, and Aaron Rodgers are not worried at all in the slightest that Carr makes more than them.
Now for the second, slightly more complicated argument of how they can afford to sign Carr to a large contract and still re-sign Mack, Cooper, and Jackson, among others? This is where the real genius of Reggie McKenzie comes in. A little known rule called cap rollover comes into play. Cap roller is basically the amount of cap space that is unused in the current year is stacked onto the following year. For example, in nothing changes this season, the Raiders will be $18 million under the cap. That will rollover to next year’s salary cap of $178 million. That gives the Raiders a cap of $196 million to work with.
Our current contracts that run through 2018 come out to $154 million and would put us $44 million under cap. That right there gives them a plenty of room to maneuver to retain key players. Mack’s extension will be in the area of $18-20 million a year average. Cooper’s the following year should rest $12-14 million. However, that is if he continues to trend upward and dominate opposing cornerbacks.
Smart drafting also plays a key part in keeping us under the cap. Signing rookies is far cheaper than signing a free agent to fill a gap. As you know Latavius Murray wanted $8 million/yr from Oakland, he got $5 million in free agency. This year we picked up Marshawn Lynch and he’ll make $2.5 million this year. Washington, Richard, and Hood will make $1.5 million collectively. The team saved a minimum of $1 million a year up to a possible $4 million on that contract. It is this philosophy that made McKenzie the Executive of the Year last year, an award he’ll very likely win again.
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