Las Vegas Raiders: What will Derek Carr be worth in free agency?
Las Vegas Raiders: What will Derek Carr be worth in free agency?
Understanding the Market
The quarterback market has always been a who’s up next to get paid as opposed to the best getting paid the most. There are many complex ways a contract can get broken down and valued, but the simplest way to look at it is by AAV, average annual value. When sorting the quarterback market in that regard, you’ll see why my above statement makes sense.
At the top of the list is current Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers at $50.2 million a year. No one would argue that he doesn’t deserve the highest AAV in the league unless you wanted to stand on the table for Patrick Mahomes.
You wouldn’t be wrong, yet he sits at #5 on this list at $45 million a year.
Everyone else in between lists out like this: #2 Russell Wilson at $49 million, #3 Kyler Murray at $46.1 million, and #4 Deshaun Watson at $46 million. Looking at all these players in order, one might scratch their head on how the top-5 list pans out in regards to money as opposed to how they’d actually pan out by ability.
Derek Carr has oddly found himself currently on that list in a spot that many could argue is in line with how people view him. Outside of the 2022 version of Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson, everyone above Carr including Josh Allen is better than him in my opinion. Below him, however, are some players you could debate could be shuffled within the 5-9 range.
In order it sits: Matthew Stafford, Dak Prescott, Kirk Cousin, and Jared Goff, all ranging between $33.5-$40 million.
Derek Carr currently sits at $40.4 million and is 7th overall on the list we’ve been talking about. Many assumed Carr would benefit from a trade because of the way his contract is structured for the next three years. He’s only slated to make $34.8 million in 2023, but his 2024 and 2025 cap number is $43.8 and $43.2 respectively.
It is thought that he might not garner as high of an AAV on the free agent market. The wild card with his current contract though is that he no longer has any guaranteed money.