By John Sarianides

The Oakland Raiders have signed quarterback Derek Carr to a 5 year, $125 million dollar extension. $70 million of it is guaranteed with $40 million coming when Carr signs the contract. 

The Raiders have called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon to announce the signing and make it official. 

I think the Raiders overpaid Carr. He is being paid like a top five quarterback but he is not a top five quarterback right now. Carr has yet to win a playoff game, but will be making more money than Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. That’s ridiculous.

Look, I get it. I know the Raiders didn’t want Carr to hit the open market after next season because it would have made it much harder for them to re-sign him. They  would have had to compete against other teams for his services. That being said, the Raiders didn’t need to break the bank to keep Carr. No team was going to give him $125 million on the open market. The Raiders were in essence competing against themselves.

There is no question Carr is well on his way to stardom but I need to see a little more from him before I hand him the richest contract in NFL history. I can appreciate the Raiders being proactive but they jumped the gun big time.

Long term, I do think Carr will play up to this contract. Short term, he needs to prove that he is an elite quarterback and play like one. We’ve seen glimpses of it from Carr the last two seasons but he needs to do it on a bigger stage. 

Quarterback is the most important position in all of sports. When you have a good one, you do everything you can to hold onto him. I don’t blame the Raiders for extending Carr but giving him the richest contract in NFL history is senseless to me. He hasn’t earned it and that is why I have an issue with it.