We now have some additional details on Derek Carr‘s new extension with the Raiders. As previously reported, the five-year, $125MM deal gives Carr a record-setting $25MM per year when evaluating only the new money. A closer look shows that the deal, while still lucrative, is far from a sure thing for the young quarterback.
Carr will get $40MM fully guaranteed at signing with $70.2MM guaranteed for injury, as ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano tweets. However, the particulars of the deal effectively make this a two-year, $47.5MM contract with team options the rest of the way. That’s because Carr’s 2019 and 2020 guarantees do not vest until February in each of those years. It’s also worth noting that the final two years of the deal – 2021 and 2022 – are non-guaranteed.
If the Raiders do not release Carr before that date in 2019, he’ll be in line for $67.5MM in earnings through the first three years of the deal. As we learned on Thursday morning, Carr’s agents purposely pushed for a backloaded contract so that Carr could take full advantage of Nevada’s 0% state tax. Still, the fine print of the deal leaves Carr with little certainty in the event that he regresses. The notion of Carr falling off before his 30th birthday seems unlikely today, but stranger things have happened in the NFL.