Derek Carr

Latest On Raiders’ Extension Plans

January 21st, 2017 at 4:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders have been able to stockpile veteran UFAs in recent years because of a lack of homegrown extensions on their payroll. But they will soon need to cut back on offseason spending because of two stars becoming extension-eligible. And Reggie McKenzie doesn’t appear to be inclined to wait on what figure to be the two most expensive extensions in Raiders history.

Derek Carr will enter a contract year without a fifth-year option safety net, while Khalil Mack can be controlled on his rookie deal through 2018 because of that clause in the former first-rounder’s pact. McKenzie wants both players to be locked up to long-term contracts by the end of next season.

“The good thing is we do have time, but I’m not the type to wait until the last minute,” McKenzie said, via Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News. “Those two guys are not only great players, but they’re great men and they are true Raiders and I want to make sure we do the best that we can to make sure they stay Raiders.

“A quarterback is going to command a high dollar. Khalil is going to command a high dollar. We’ll work around it, but we don’t feel at this point threatened by it.”

The Raiders stand to possess more than $46MM in cap space this year. They shouldn’t be as active in free agency compared to last year as a result of these looming deals, McKenzie acknowledged, and the Carr accord figures to be one of the more scrutinized negotiations this summer.

Carr is set to make just more than $977K in base salary this season, so he could add an extra year of franchise-quarterback money by signing before his walk year, a la Russell Wilson. The 2014 second-rounder’s worth became painfully obvious after he went down in Week 16, with the Raiders ending their season with two one-sided defeats. Carr figures to be in position to command a deal well north of $20MM per year, seeing as he’ll be 26 in March and the Raiders having not employed a young franchise-caliber quarterback since probably Ken Stabler. Andrew Luck‘s five-year, $122MM agreement could be in sight.

Mack will count $5.942MM toward Oakland’s cap in 2017; that’s the 10th-highest cap figure on a payroll that features UFA signings representing its nine highest salaries. The Raiders will have an incredibly easy decision when choosing to exercise Mack’s fifth-year option worth approximately $13.7MM. A defensive player of the year candidate, Mack could target Von Miller‘s $19MM-AAV threshold and become the league’s first $20MM-per-year defender. The cap’s continued rise, and Mack being two years younger than Miller, point to him potentially raising the standard.

McKenzie’s language dictates the superstar pass-rusher probably won’t have to wait until after his fifth season to receive his landmark extension like Miller did.

Free Agency Notes: Jets, Giants, Lions

January 13th, 2017 at 2:11pm CST by Ben Levine

It’s been a busy couple of days for coaching moves. Our head coaching tracker shows that five of the six vacancies have been filled, with the 49ers remaining as the only team with a head coach opening.

Of course, we wouldn’t blame you if you’ve been itching for some tidbits concerning actual players. So let’s take a look at some notes pertaining to free agency…

With the Jets‘ offseason looming, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY takes a look at which of the team’s impending free agents should be re-signed. The writer lists offensive guard Brian Winters as a priority, and he notes that he’d re-sign quarterback Geno Smith, offensive tackle Ben Ijalana, and long snapper Tanner Purdum if the price was right. Meanwhile, Vacchiano lists quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as “likely gone.”
After some “maneuvering,” ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan tweets that the Giants could have nearly $40MM in cap room this offseason. The Giants have a number of key players reaching free agency this summer, including defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, and cornerback Coty Sensabaugh.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press believes the Lions need to add “playmakers” this offseason. However, coach Jim Caldwell said those flashy additions are not necessary. “I don’t think (we need one) because I just think that you find a lot of teams that have an abundance of what you call quote-unquote superstars and they function dysfunctionally as a team,” Caldwell said. “I think that we’re more interested in what kind of team that we build. That’s the thing that’s most important to me. It’s how we function as a team.”
While the Raiders would presumably like to be players in free agency, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com writes that several contract extensions are “looming” over the organization. Both quarterback Derek Carr and linebacker Khalil Mack are eligible for new deals, and the organization will surely have to pay to retain the star duo.

West Notes: 49ers, Rams, Joseph, Raiders

January 8th, 2017 at 9:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

The only team with GM and head coaching vacancies, the 49ers have several interviews on the east coast forthcoming in the next few days. On Monday, San Francisco’s brass will meet with Redskins OC Sean McVay for the HC job and conduct an interview with Panthers assistant general manager Brandon Beane for the GM position, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports.

Panthers DC Sean McDermott will follow Beane by meeting with the 49ers about their HC gig on Tuesday, and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick will interview for the GM position during the day as well. The 49ers may not be in a rush, being scheduled to interview Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable next Sunday. The following Monday, the team will meet with more GM candidates. Both of the Seahawks’ co-directors of player personnel, Scott Fitterer and Trent Kirchner, will interview then in what’s become quite the expansive search.

CEO Jed York and fellow high-ranking 49ers staffer Paraag Marathe are leading this search, one that may come down to whether or not the team is willing to wait on Patriots OC Josh McDaniels to conclude his 2016-season responsibilities. The 49ers have already interviewed three for the HC position and four execs for the GM job.

Here’s more from some of the Western-division franchises.

Vance Joseph‘s long-rumored Broncos interview will be on Tuesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Joseph will follow Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub and Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan in interviewing for this position. The Colorado alum and current Miami DC has been most connected with the Denver job and was viewed as the favorite going into the weekend.
Despite deploying defensive player of the year candidate Khalil Mack and signing Bruce Irvin in free agency, the Raiders finished with a league-low 25 sacks. Jack Del Rio singled out the team’s inside pass-rushers as a culprit for this shortcoming. “Interior pass rush, it’s critical for us to get that going,” Del Rio said, via Jerry McDonald of the San Jose Mercury News. “I think Stacy McGee had 2.5 sacks, we got Mario Edwards Jr. back and he wasn’t a huge factor, and (Jihad Ward) wasn’t a huge factor. I didn’t feel we got that inside push.” The Raiders have several young players under contract here, including Denico Autry and full-time defensive tackles Dan Williams and Justin Ellis, but Mack and Irvin combined to record 18 of the team’s sacks.
Derek Carr, who said he would have played in the Super Bowl had the Raiders miraculously qualified without him, said he will be ready for the beginning of offseason workouts in April, Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area reports.
Teryl Austin has set up an interview time with the Chargers, with a Tuesday summit on tap. But the Rams‘ meeting the sides have been attached to remains in the to-be-determined category, ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson tweets. A Rams-Kyle Shanahan interview hasn’t been officially rescheduled, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link), after weather interrupted the team’s contingent after a McDaniels meeting in New England.

Bills To Bench Tyrod Taylor In Final Game

December 27th, 2016 at 11:16am CST by Zachary Links

Rex Ryan is out and the quarterback that he championed could also be a goner in Buffalo. The Bills are planning to bench Tyrod Taylor against the Jets on Sunday in favor of E.J. Manuel, league sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Facebook link). This is a business decision so the Bills are not at risk for the $30.75MM left on his contract that would become guaranteed if Taylor suffered a significant injury, Schefter adds.

The Bills are on high alert after watching Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr suffer major injuries in Week 16. The Bills are not going to take any chances with Taylor, a player who may not be in their plans for 2017. It’s not certain that Taylor is out of the picture, but it would be understandable if the Bills do not want to retain him at his current salary. This will also give Buffalo a chance to get one last look at Manuel, a pending free agent.

Initially, the Bills planned to give Taylor the final month of the season to audition himself.

“He’s got four more games to write this chapter. Then after this season, like everybody on the team, we’re going to do an evaluation and then we’ll go from there,” Whaley said on Dec. 9 in an interview where he declined to commit to Taylor for 2017.

It is somewhat surprising that rookie Cardale Jones will not be given the opportunity in Week 17. The Ohio State product may be No. 2 on the depth chart, however, if the team is truly intent on protecting Taylor from injury.

Latest On Raiders’ QB Situation

December 26th, 2016 at 9:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders suffered one of the most crushing injuries a playoff team has ever seen when Derek Carr went down with a broken leg during Week 16, yet they still have a chance at claiming the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

Oakland did not work out any quarterbacks today, preferring to go with Matt McGloin and rookie Connor Cook for now, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets.

Carr will undergo surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles, and Schefter tweets the recovery time should be around six to eight weeks. The ESPN.com reporter added (via Twitter) this will be the first instance of a quarterback winning 12 regular-season games and not starting in the team’s first playoff contest since the NFL began the playoff format in 1933. The league began playing 14-game regular seasons in 1961 and moved to 16 in 1978.

A fourth-year pro, McGloin has not started a game since the 2013 season, when he went 1-5 and completed 55 percent of his throws for a much worse Raiders team. The 27-year-old backup — to whom the Raiders extended a second-round RFA tender this offseason — has thrown just 55 passes in the past three years. Cook has been the Raiders’ No. 3 quarterback all season.

Carr, who will enter a contract year in 2017 if he’s not signed to the extension the team is prioritizing, was pondering a miraculous return if the Raiders were to advance to Super Bowl LI behind McGloin. However, Carr’s chances of returning this season are incredibly slim, CSNBayArea.com’s Scott Bair writes.

“He started doing the math in his head, and he said ‘That’s Super Bowl week,'” NFL.com’s David Carr said, via Bair. “As a fan, I’m thinking, do the Raiders have a chance without him? For him, Derek feels so much love for this team, and he really thinks they can go out and [reach the Super Bowl].”

Coupled with the injury issue, the Raiders would have to advance to the league’s February game without the services of a player who was an MVP candidate — and do so potentially without a first-round bye. Oakland winning or Kansas City losing gives the Raiders a bye, but the now-eliminated Broncos beating their division rivals in Denver and the Chiefs topping a reeling Chargers team would send the Raiders to the No. 5 line in the AFC bracket. Illustrating the fluidity of the Raiders’ standing, they can earn the No. 1 seed with a win and a Patriots loss in Miami, which occurred in Week 17 of last season.

Extra Points: Raiders, Carr, Bills, Pats, Rowe

December 25th, 2016 at 9:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The latest from around the NFL as Christmas Day comes to a close:

Although the Raiders wanted quarterback Derek Carr to undergo surgery for his broken fibula today, that operation was unlikely to take place on Christmas Day because Oakland wants to use the best surgeons available, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). Most of those doctors were likely occupied due to the holiday, so the Raiders want to wait and secure the best crew before putting Carr under the knife. However, the operation will apparently take place in the very near future. Any chance Carr has of returning for a postseason run would clearly be aided by quick surgery and recovery.
While a Rex Ryan firing is a “near-certainty,” Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports that Bills‘ general manager Doug Whaley‘s status remains up in the air. The Bills could finish with a .500-or-better record in consecutive seasons for the first time since Wade Phillips’ 1999-2000 stretch, but the Ryan era has produced major turmoil and seen the Buffalo defense regress considerably from the Jim Schwartz season in 2014. The 2015 Bills ranked 19th in total defense, and the ’16 version sits there as well. While not horrendous, Jay Ajayi‘s monster day to eliminate the Bills notwithstanding, it’s well off the pace of 2014, when the team ranked fourth defensively.
Patriots defensive tackle Malcom Brown was demoted during Saturday’s game against the Jets because he was late for a meeting last week, reports Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Head coach Bill Belichick has dealt harshly with tardiness in the past, but Reiss notes that Brown is valued as a mature player who likely just made an “honest mistake.” Brown, a 2015, first-round pick, has started 13 games this season.
Under the terms of the trade that sent cornerback Eric Rowe from the Eagles to the Patriots earlier this year, New England will be forced to ship a 2018 third-round pick to Philadelphia if Rowe plays in 50% of the Patriots’ snaps in either 2016 or 2017. Rowe won’t meet that mark this season, per Reiss, although Rowe could still reach that threshold next year. If he doesn’t, New England will only be required to send a 2018 fourth-rounder to Philly.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Raiders QB Derek Carr Has Broken Fibula

December 24th, 2016 at 6:29pm CST by Zachary Links

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio announced that Derek Carr has suffered a broken fibula. There is no timetable for Carr’s return, but he’ll undergo surgery tomorrow. Del Rio said that he is out “indefinitely” and did not formally rule him out for the year, but it’s hard to imagine Carr making a postseason return.

Carr went down in the fourth quarter of today’s game against the Colts after taking a sack. He grabbed his leg, screamed out, and motioned for team trainers. Instantly, it was clear that Carr had suffered a serious injury. Now we know the extent of the damage and it’s a crushing blow to a Raiders team that seemed poised for playoff success.

With Carr under center, the Raiders have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2002. They are 12-3 after today’s win over the Colts, but that’s little consolation for Oakland fans as they prepare to move ahead without their star QB. They will now start Matt McGloin with rookie Connor Cook behind him. The team may opt to add a third healthy QB in the coming days.

Carr has 25 touchdowns against six interceptions on the year, making him Pro Football Focus’ No. 7 ranked QB in the league heading into today’s games.

Raiders To Focus On Carr’s Deal Before Mack’s

December 8th, 2016 at 3:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders are under the CBA-mandated minimum expenditure over the past four-year period. However, the Raiders have a few good ideas for how they can spend that cash, including new deals for quarterback Derek Carr and star linebacker Khalil Mack. The Raiders are currently expected to focus on signing Carr before Mack, a source familiar with the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT.

One might think the Raiders are prioritizing Carr because he plays a more important position, but the real reason is that the Raiders hold a fifth-year option on Mack because he is a first-round pick. As a former second-round choice, Carr has only one year left on his rookie deal. Without a new contract, the Raiders would be forced to use the expensive franchise tag to keep Carr away from free agency after the 2017 season.

It will be interesting to see what kind of deal Carr will look for from Oakland. Kirk Cousins, who is considered to be an above-average quarterback and will be 29 next season, is said to be seeking nearly $24MM/year on his next deal. Carr, meanwhile, doesn’t turn 26 until March and has been outplaying Cousins by just about every metric this season.

Mack, meanwhile, is having a monster season of his own with ten sacks and 58 total tackles through 12 games. The Raiders, ideally, would like to lock up both players before they get anywhere near the open market.

AFC Notes: Chiefs, Carr, Raiders, Dolphins

November 17th, 2016 at 6:58pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles landed on injured reserve Nov. 1 because he needed surgery on his right knee, in which he tore his ACL last season. It turns out Charles also underwent surgery on his left knee Thursday, but it actually increases the odds of a return this year, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link). Charles has now had the meniscus in each knee trimmed, not repaired, and could be a factor for the Chiefs if they make the playoffs. Despite having only gotten 12 carries from the four-time Pro Bowler this year, the 7-2 Chiefs are currently the AFC’s second seed and look bound for the postseason.

Raiders To Prioritize Derek Carr Contract

November 6th, 2016 at 10:11am CST by Rory Parks

Derek Carr will be eligible for an extension after the end of the 2016 season, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Raiders will indeed prioritize a new deal for their star quarterback in 2017.

Industry sources expect that Carr’s new contract will be in line with the mega-deal that Andrew Luck signed with Indianapolis this summer. Luck received a five-year, $123MM pact from the Colts, and Carr should be able to at least come close to that figure, though former NFL agent Joel Corry wonders if the Raiders will try to convince Carr to accept a “pay as you go” model (Twitter link).

Carr is having a tremendous season for the resurgent Raiders, who are showing rapid improvement under the steady and patient hand of GM Reggie McKenzie. Carr has completed over 66% of his passes this year and has posted a 100.9 quarterback rating, throwing for 17 touchdowns against just three interceptions. He and Amari Cooper have teamed up to form one of the best young quarterback-receiver duos in the NFL, and both players should only continue to get better.

Indeed, Carr has demonstrated marked improvement in each of his first three years in the league, and his gaudy numbers this season, combined with Oakland’s potential return to the playoffs, have thrust him into the middle of the MVP discussion. The good news for the Raiders is that they have managed the salary cap very well in recent years, so they should be able to meet Carr’s contract demands fairly easily.

However, they want to get a deal done quickly not just because they need to lock up Carr long-term, but because they will be facing several other major contract decisions in the near future. Cooper’s rookie deal is set to expire at the end of the 2018 season, and Khalil Mack‘s contract is up at the end of the 2017 campaign.

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