Five years, $125 million – hoowee, I’d say congratulations are in order for Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. I’m a big advocate of people being paid for their talents, and in this football columnist/degenerate blogger’s opinion, Carr is the best young quarterback in football. In fact, I don’t know that there’s any one quarterback in the entire NFL that I’d rather build a franchise around right now – except for maybe Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, who seems set to be one of the next in line for one of these huge contracts.
A few days ago, ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote a really good, and much more professional breakdown of how this impacts the quarterback market than you will find on this site:
Thursday was a good day for Derek Carr and the next several generations of his family. The Oakland Raiders quarterback signed a contract extension that guarantees him $40 million right away, $70.2 million against injury, and offers him the chance to earn $125 million by the time he turns 32. Looking strictly at the deal’s full potential value in “new money” — $125 million over five years — Carr can call himself the highest-paid player in NFL history. Bravo.
^The details for reference. It’s a rare deal that works for both Carr and the Raiders.
And, in case you missed it, Carr is good…really good. You don’t need much more evidence than seeing the way the team collapsed in the playoffs last year without him. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be good for years to come.
Mariota is in a similar situation. But, he’s just a season or two behind Carr. It seems like each week, we’re seeing Pro Football Focus tweet a new, obscure stat about the young Titans quarterback. At this point, we know how vital Mariota is to the Titans offense. He’s good in the red zone. He’s good against the blitz. And, yeah, he’s shown a propensity to extend plays with his legs. Or, in the case of this run against the Jacksonville Jaguars, can downright make plays on the move:
He has one of the best offensive lines and rushing attacks in the NFL. He has one of the best tight ends in football running downfield for him. And, the Titans offense loaded up on receivers this offseason. So, you could say Mariota has all of the tools he needs to become a successful franchise quarterback. More so, he can become the type of quarterback that commands this sort of huge salary.
Right now, the Titans are in decent shape cap-wise, but they need to focus on locking down left tackle Taylor Lewan. That should be the team’s next priority. Still, just from the eye test, anyone can see that Mariota is progressing towards a monster deal. There’s still a lot left to play out before we get to that point, but regardless, it’s safe to assume that Carr’s deal is the floor for what a healthy Mariota can get.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
Shop our store on Redbubble. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube.
