Derek Carr is now the highest-paid player in the NFL – if you count only his new money average. Carr will begin a five-year, $125MM deal in the 2018 season, giving him a record $25MM average annual value. If you roll in his 2017 salary, which is less than $2MM, then Carr’s yearly average falls closer to $21MM. Carr’s deal is substantial, but what kind of ripple effect will it really have on other top quarterbacks around the NFL?
Here’s a look at some reactions to Carr’s new deal:
- The market for quarterbacks truly peaked with Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap (on Twitter) argues. Top players have failed to really push the market since 2013, in his view, as he feels that the league’s top quarterbacks should be earning between $27-$30MM per year at this point. Keep in mind, the salary cap has grown roughly 35% from 2013 to 2017 and top QB deals have not ballooned at the same rate.
- Fitzgerald (Twitter links) also believes that Carr’s $70MM in injury guarantees hints at a contract that is going to be more like Russell Wilson‘s than a real market setter. A deal giving Carr about $43MM in Year 1 new money, $60MM by Year 2, and $80MM Year 3 would have pushed the market further, in Fitzgerald’s view. For what it’s worth, the expected cash flow on the deal might not be too far off at the start with $40MM fully guaranteed at signing. His $69MM intake over the first three years, however, falls short.
- Carr’s new deal led Mike Florio of PFT to wonder how much Tom Brady could have gotten from the Patriots if he drove a hard bargain. One beat writer suggested to Florio that he could have gotten as much as $40MM per year. Florio doesn’t think it’s quite that high, but he does believe that the future Hall of Famer would be making at least $30MM per season if he wanted to squeeze every penny out of New England. Brady is under contract with the Pats through the 2019 season and he is arguably one of the league’s most underpaid players.
- Even when going by new money average, Carr’s deal only tops Andrew Luck‘s by $271K per season, Florio notes.
- Carr’s deal will impact negotiations for Matthew Stafford, but it probably won’t mean much to the Redskins and Kirk Cousins, as one agent tells Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “The Stafford contract clearly will take it the next step higher,” said one NFL agent not involved in the Carr, Stafford or Cousins negotiations. “Whatever Carr gets, Stafford will get more. The Cousins thing, that’s a little bit different. Those are negotiations where the numbers are set by the [franchise] tag, more so than [by comparison to] other contracts.”
Carr has been very good the last 2 seasons but goodness, don’t you need to win something before getting paid?
Worth it
Will it be worth it if you don’t make the playoffs frequently over the next few years?
…..or he goes down with another season-ending injury?
I love it, my aunts sisters husband was one of his coaches at Fresno State and I loved him when he came out of college and he is one of my favorite NFL players and he is on one of my favorite NFL teams. If the Pats for some reason don’t make the playoffs but the Raiders do, I am rooting for the Raiders all day
Well wouldnt she be your Aunt as well??
I think that person is confuzzled a tad. I am my mom’s sisters kids uncle …
How many favorite teams do you have?
Why would Stafford be worth more? That’s probably why the Lions have always stunk if they start from that position since Carr is younger, has played better than Stafford did at a comparable time in his career, and also even if you bring up the injury thing, Stafford missed half of his first 2 years because of injury. Carr has only missed a couple of games due to that freak injury before the playoffs last year and a game his rookie year. Stafford finally stepped up last year, but in no world should he be getting paid more than the top tier of QBs in this league.