Raiders could break the bank to commit to Derek Carr

If the Las Vegas Raiders want to extend quarterback Derek Carr, who is in the final year of his contract, it could come with a very hefty cost.

The clock is officially ticking for Derek Carr and the Raiders to come to an agreement on a contract extension to keep him in Las Vegas.

The quarterback is in the final year of his deal in 2022 and could hit the free agent market in 2023 if the team doesn’t lock him up.

The cost of doing so won’t be cheap though.

“As it relates to Derek Carr and the @Raiders, the sense is no proposals have been exchanged yet on an extension,” Vincent Bonsignore of The Las Vegas Review-Journal tweeted. “You’ll see various numbers being thrown around, but, as I’ve been reporting, any extension would likely be in the $40m per season range.”

“So, if it’s a two-year deal at $40m per year, when you factor in the 2021 salary it would be three years, $100m,” Bonsignore added.

The Raiders could double Derek Carr’s salary with a contract extension

Carr is set to make just under $20 million this season, so what Bonsignore is suggesting would double his current salary.

The $40 million number would put him up with Dak Prescott and just behind Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen as the highest-paid quarterbacks in the game. He would leap in front of Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers with that figure.

Then again, Carr is currently making less than a lot of quarterbacks he should be ahead of when it comes to salary. Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins and Jared Goff all outpace him.

The Raiders have to weigh if he’s worth it.

On one hand, he’s a generally reliable starting quarterback who can provide stability for the franchise. He ranked fifth in passing yards in 2021.

On the other hand, he was 14th in QBR with a TD-INT ratio of 23-14. If he hasn’t proven himself among the elite passers in the NFL, should Las Vegas pay him like one?