Graney: Carr contract far sweeter for Raiders than QB

Hello, sweet spot.

The Raiders and Derek Carr finally arrived at such a place Wednesday when the team and veteran quarterback agreed to a three-year contract extension.

Fact: It’s a whole lot sweeter for the organization.

The good part for Carr is that he can earn up to $121.5 million should he play out the life of the deal.

The great part for the team is that it has only guaranteed $25 million (Carr was already set to make $21.5 million) for the upcoming season. Think about that. It’s only a bump of less than $4 million.

Carr’s salary in 2023 ($33 million) isn’t guaranteed until three days after the Super Bowl, which means the team has left itself a mighty big out if things on the field don’t go as planned in 2022. It can simply move on from him. It would own all leverage.

Which means there is no way new general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels are sold on the idea Carr can absolutely lead the franchise to a championship. You don’t structure an extension this way if so.

Bet on self

There is agreeing to take less money so certain teammates might also reap the riches of an extension, which Carr did. There is also betting on yourself to the point he has now.

I’m sure the Raiders want him to be great. I’m sure they want Carr to win big. They would gladly pay the $100-plus million if he does.

I’m also sure, given the nature of guaranteed money (which is the only thing that matters in these cases), they have major reservations until proven otherwise.

Nine years later, Carr is in a place where he’s auditioning for his future.

“I’ve only wanted to be a Raider,” he said. “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. That’s how much this place means to me. I was dead serious.

“I had one year left on my contract. If it was one year, it was going to be one year. And I am crazy enough to go out there on one year and especially with the guys that are going to be around me. I said I’ll take that chance and see what happens.”

It’s a good contract for both sides if Carr’s production leads to a playoff berth and perhaps a deep postseason run. He’s not getting cut or moved then. He’s just becoming a whole lot richer and actually underpaid at that point given the market for top quarterback salaries.

But should the Raiders underperform in 2022 and can’t keep up in the ultra-stacked AFC West, the team would have options at the position in a year where draft-eligible quarterbacks are thought to be some of the best in years.

Ziegler and McDaniels arrived from New England and theirs was a decision based on two paths: Blow everything up and start over or play to win now.

Pretty obvious they chose the latter.

An off-season that saw — among others — moves to acquire wide receiver Davante Adams from Green Bay and sign defensive end Chandler Jones signaled management’s choice to try to compete for a Super Bowl.

Thinking is, Carr just might have enough skill around him to do so.

Thinking is, given the contract, Ziegler and McDaniels are taking a wait-and-see approach with him.

Time will tell

“There is this hunger in everybody that we have done nothing yet,” Carr said. “We felt good about (making the playoffs last season). It was cool. But there is a hunger in us that we didn’t get what we wanted. Clearly, we didn’t do enough work.

“Out objective in our hearts is to win. We are going to compete in literally everything we do. The only thing that matters is winning.”

The new regime is all in. That’s the direction.

But time — and results — will tell if it feels the same about Carr.

This sure is a sweet deal right now … for the Raiders.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.