Will Derek Carr’s Extension Be Done Before Free Agency?
When will Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr receive his new contract extension?
Oakland Raiders Derek Carr is going to be a very rich man in the near future. But is the near future before free agency, or will it be later in the offseason?
Per an Adam Schefter report from back in November, the Raiders were going to prioritize a new deal for Carr following the end of the season.
"The Raiders are prioritizing a new deal for Carr after this season, and a league source expects that deal “to be Luck-ish,” a reference to the five-year, $123 million contract that Andrew Luck signed with Indianapolis this past summer."
And in December, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said the Raiders would focus on extending Carr before Khalil Mack, for an obvious reason.
"Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Raiders are currently expected to focus on signing Carr before Mack.The reason is simple; the Raiders have the ability to extend Mack’s four-year deal to five, given that he was a first-round pick. And they surely will do so before the May 3 deadline for exercising the fifth-year option.Carr, as a second-round pick, has only one year remaining on his rookie contract. And so, without a new deal, the Raiders would be required to use the franchise tag on Carr to keep him off the open market in 2018."
So yes, it’s no secret this deal is going to get done this offseason. The real question is if Reggie McKenzie can get the deal done prior to the start of free agency, which is March 9.
Ideally and in theory, that seems like the best possible scenario. At least for the Raiders, as it will give them an exact idea of what their financial situation will look like heading into the open market.
With their own free agents to re-sign, plus a few needs that could be filled in free agency, knowing exactly what you have to spend would be obviously helpful.
For Carr, it may or may not be in his best interest to rush to get the deal done. It obviously depends on the numbers.
We just went over Schefter’s estimate, per a source. Spotrac thinks Carr’s deal could be six years and for over $137 million. Which is in range of Luck’s salary, as Schefter said, but with an added year.
As far as how the Carr’s new deal will affect the financials this offseason, there are a couple of different ways this could happen.
If Carr’s signing bonus is paid out in full or if most of it is paid in the first year, that affects how much McKenzie can spend this offseason. However, if Carr’s signing bonus is spread out over multiple years, then McKenzie has a little more room to work with.
With less than two weeks to go until the start of free agency, time is running out to get the deal done before then. If that’s the goal.
But perhaps with Carr focused on rehab of his leg, this may not even be a focus for him right now. And it may not be a focus for the team, either. Carr knows he’ll be well taken care of, and may not be in a rush to get the deal done. And the team could share the same sentiment. Let Carr get healthy first, let him focus on that, and then take care of the deal.
Or, Carr could want to get the contract extension done as quickly as possible, just to get it done and other with, so the team can focus on other areas. And team may share that same sentiment as well — get the deal done so they can focus on free agency.
So it’s hard to say for sure what will happen. Their is an argument for both sides.
But with no real updates on the scenario, it seems unlikely, in my opinion, that deal gets done before March 9.
We’ll find out soon.