Fantasy Reaction: Derek Carr Signs 3-Year Extension with Las Vegas (Fantasy Football)
Derek Carr has signed a three-year extension extension worth $121.5 million, keeping him in the Sin City through the 2025 season. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Derek Carr‘s $40.5 million per year average on his new three-year extension puts him 5th among QBs and makes him the 7th QB getting paid at least $40+ million per year, joining Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott. Carr was originally drafted by the Raiders in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL Draft. In his eight professional seasons as the signal caller for the Silver and Black, the Raiders are a combined 57-70 with zero AFC West division titles, two playoff births as a Wild Card and zero playoff wins. However, with strong underlying metrics, one of the best WRs in football in Davante Adams and a new head coach in Josh McDaniels, Carr will look to build on a strong 2021 season in which the Raiders lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round.
A year ago, Carr ranked 8th among QBs in EPA, adjusted completion percentage and yards per attempt. Prior to Henry Ruggs‘ release from the team, the firing of former head coach, Jon Gruden, and Darren Waller‘s knee injury, Carr averaged over 300 yards and 22.2 fantasy points per game. During that stretch from Weeks 1-7, Carr was fantasy’s QB11. We’ve seen stretches of top tier QB play from Carr throughout his career, but he’s struggled to put up consistent top 10 production that we so highly covet in fantasy circles. However, with former college teammate, Davante Adams, now in town, Hunter Renfrow‘s emergence from the slot and Darren Waller now back to full strength, Carr has a chance to improve upon his 3.7% TD rate from a season ago. From a fantasy perspective, Carr has a strong chance to beat his current best ball ADP of QB17. Per our Career Snapshot Tool, Carr has finished as the QB17 or better in five of the last seven seasons but with arguably the best set of weapons at his disposal over the last three years, there’s a strong possibility Carr finishes inside the top 15 QBs. Of course, his ceiling is likely capped without the rushing upside, but expect Carr to post rock solid high end QB2 numbers with multiple QB1 weeks throughout the year.