Derek Carr, the quarterback of the Las Vegas Raiders, inked a multiyear contract deal on Wednesday.
Carr agreed to a three-year, $121.5 million extension with the Raiders that includes a no-trade clause and goes through the 2025 season, according to a source who spoke to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Carr also stated on Wednesday that he will be with the Raiders for “four more” years, and that he would have understood if general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels wanted “somebody new” at quarterback.
“But the fact that they keep believing in me and watching the tape and saying, ‘Wow, we want you to be here for some more years or some more time,’ that means more to me, way more to me than any of the other stuff it has to do with,” Carr said. “It was very clear to me how they felt about me from day one.”
In 2022, Carr, 31, is set to earn $19.87 million in base salary. In 2017, he agreed to a five-year, $125 million extension, which was the largest contract in NFL history at the time. His increased annual salary of $40.5 million (for the deal solely) places him seventh among NFL quarterbacks.
Carr’s contract extension was initially reported by NFL Network on Wednesday.
“We are thrilled to maintain that partnership moving future,” McDaniels said in a statement released by the team. “Derek Carr has been the leader of this franchise for a long time and we are thrilled to continue that relationship moving forward.” “He has been a great example of someone who always puts the team first and we appreciate his desire to keep doing that while leading on and off the field. It is clear how much Derek cares about this organization, his teammates and winning. I look forward to the opportunity to work with him this season and beyond .”
Carr stated again on Wednesday that he just wanted to be a Raider and that he was “crazy enough” to play out his contract’s last year in 2022.
“I told my agent, ‘I’m either going to be a Raider, or I’m going to be playing golf. I don’t want to play anywhere else,'” he said. “That’s how much this place means to me.
Carr is coming off a season in which he threw for 4,804 yards, 23 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and 40 sacks, the second-highest total of his eight-year career. Despite a rocky season that included the departure of coach Jon Gruden, the arrest of receiver Henry Ruggs III, and the release of cornerback Damon Arnette, the Raiders went 10-7 and made the playoffs for the second time since 2002.
Carr threw a fourth-and-goal interception in front of the goal line with 12 seconds left, and Las Vegas lost 26-19 to the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round.
Carr, a second-round pick from Fresno State in 2014, holds Raiders team records for passing yards (31,700), touchdown passes (193), and game-winning drives (30). Carr has the third-most victories in franchise history (57), trailing only Hall of Famer Ken Stabler (69) and Daryle Lamonica (62), and the most losses (70).
The Raiders have had a busy offseason, as Carr will reunite with former college teammate Davante Adams, who was acquired in a March trade with the Green Bay Packers, in which Las Vegas sent its first- and second-round draught picks to Green Bay and signed the star receiver to a five-year, $141.25 million contract.
Chandler Jones, a four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher, was also signed to a three-year, $52.5 million free-agent contract by the Raiders, joining Pro Bowl defensive MVP Maxx Crosby, who had already signed a four-year, $94 million extension before free agency began.
Carr stated his contract was structured such that Adams, Jones, and “hopefully Hunter [Renfrow] and Foster [Moreau] and those guys can stay here” could be signed. Later on, he referenced Darren Waller.
Carr has the longest tenure of any quarterback in the AFC West, which includes 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, third-year rising star Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, and Super Bowl XLVIII champion Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos after a trade with the Seattle Seahawks.