The AFC West is shaping up to be an incredibly competitive division next season, thanks to a number of new faces joining teams such as Davante Adams, Khalil Mack and Russell Wilson.
The Las Vegas Raiders have now made a move at retaining one of their own primary pieces.
Derek Carr and the Raiders have reached an agreement on a three-year contract extension, worth potentially $121.5 million, and keeping Carr with the organization through the 2025 season. Ian Rapoport with the NFL Network was first to report the agreement between the quarterback and the team:
The #Raiders and star QB Derek Carr have agreed to terms on a 3-year contract extension worth $121.5M, source said. The agreement ties Carr to Las Vegas through the 2025 season. He is already the longest tenured QB in the AFC. 💰 💰 💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 13, 2022
The underlying premise of this agreement can be boiled down to one word: Chemistry. One of the biggest acquisitions of the entire NFL off-season was the trade between Las Vegas and Green Bay which sent Adams to the AFC West. That reunited Adams with Carr, his former college quarterback.
As we saw throughout Adams’ tenure with the Packers, his ability to get on the same page with his quarterback was critical to the success of Green Bay’s passing game. How Adams and Aaron Rodgers operated, particularly on timing throws as well as back-shoulder passes, made that connection so difficult to defend.
That relationship between receiver and passer sometimes takes years to build. But with Las Vegas, that relationship between WR1 and QB1 is already established. Carr and Adams forged that relationship during their time at Fresno State, and that chemistry between the two gives Josh McDaniels a critical component for their offense in the year ahead.