What Matthew Stafford’s new contract means for Derek Carr
By Eric Brown
With Matthew Stafford becoming the highest paid player in NFL history, Derek Carr could be in line to pass him after the 2018 season.
Matt Stafford is arguably the most important player in the Detroit Lions history. The Lions recently rewarded him with a contract that will make him the highest paid player ever. That’s right, not just among quarterbacks. He gets the most money of anyone in the league, regardless of position.
With Stafford getting that much money, quarterback salaries around the entire league are bound to go up once some of the elite playmakers are due up for their next contract.
One of those players is the Oakland Raiders’ very own Derek Carr, who just inked a sweet deal of his own this summer: five-years for $125 million with a potential out in 2019. It’s quite the pay bump from his rookie salary his first three years in the league.
When the fourth pick of the second round came around during the 2014 NFL Draft, multiple quarterbacks had already been taken. Blake Bortles (No. 3 to Jaguars), Johnny Manziel (No. 22 to Browns), Teddy Bridgewater (No. 32 to Vikings) all were off the board.
Many questioned whether the Raiders would even take the younger Carr brother. After all, the last time the NFL had a Carr brother under a center, things did not go so well. Many fans called for the team to take Tom Savage instead of Carr. Good thing the Raiders didn’t.
More I think, #Raiders interest in Carr smokescreen. Trade down for picks, maybe pick #Fresno WR Adams and Pitt QB Savage or add a DT.
— Brian L. Clark (@BrianClarkMod) May 9, 2014
Savage was the lowest-rated QB #Raiders were willing to draft, according to @RapSheet. Instead, they got their top-rated QB in Derek Carr.
— Raiders Beat (@RaidersBeat) May 10, 2014
Here’s how Derek Carr compares, season by season to the players drafted ahead of him.
Derek Carr
Johnny Manziel
Teddy Bridgewater
Blake Bortles
Even to the casual fan, one can see that Carr is significantly better than the rest of the quarterbacks taken ahead of him in the 2014 NFL Draft. Bridgewater is currently sidelined after suffering a devastating knee injury before last season, Bortles almost lost his starting job to Chad Henne this preseason, and we all know about Money Manziel.
None of those three quarterbacks are franchise-level players. Carr is that, and more. Let’s check out how Carr compares to the newest $100 million man in Stafford during their first three years.
Matt Stafford did not play a full season until his third year in the league, but, Carr still has the better numbers even if going by the first three full seasons.
More from Just Blog Baby
- Raiders news: Free agent TE Foster Moreau diagnosed with cancer
- Order your Jimmy Garoppolo Las Vegas Raiders gear now
- Las Vegas Raiders: 2023 NFL Draft will make-or-break David Ziegler Era
- Raiders news: Jimmy Garoppolo offered a different kind of deal
- Raiders 2023 NFL Draft: Trading down for an elite DT on Day 1
He surpasses Stafford in almost every notable offensive category. Derek Carr has shown that he can be the quarterback of the future for the Raiders.
Other quarterbacks around the league are also set for a pay raise. It’s tough to imagine just how much the Green Bay Packers will have to pay Aaron Rodgers to make sure he is a cheese head for the rest of his career. There is no question whether they will pay it, it’s how much.
Same goes for the Super Bowl runner-up Atlanta Falcons and Matt Ryan. After seeing the Falcons almost win it all, he will be looking for one of the top contracts in the NFL very soon.
Next: 5 Raiders who helped themselves vs. Seahawks
If Carr dominates the NFL for the next two seasons, and leads the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl win, he will be looking at securing one of the NFL’s highest contracts ever by the time the team moves to Las Vegas. How much money do you think Carr could make in 2019 should he and the Raiders draw up a new deal? Let us know in the comments below!