Carr’s deal sure to be passed soon
Several QBs poised to seize title of NFL’s highest-paid player
Andrew Luck’s reign as the NFL’s highest-paid player lasted a year. Derek Carr’s tenure with that title — he agreed to a pact that will average $25 million annually Thursday — could be far shorter. Several players could receive massive contracts in the near future, perhaps by the end of the summer. Matthew Stafford, Detroit
Lions: He could sign a deal soon that eclipses Carr’s. General manager Bob Quinn said recently he was confident a deal would get done. Stafford is scheduled to make $16.5 million in 2017, the final year of the contract extension he signed in 2013. But with Carr’s pact done, Stafford and the Lions have the framework of a
deal he can expect to receive. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay
Packers: He is under contract through 2019 but is compensated below market value (he averages $22 million annually) for a player of his caliber. And with a salary cap that continues to balloon, he has a good case that he deserves a new deal. “When it comes to setting the market values, I let that stuff take care of itself. I know my value in this league, and I know the team appreciates me,” Rodgers said this month. Kirk Cousins, Washington
Redskins: He heads into this season playing on the franchise tag for the second consecutive year. Cousins has until July 17 to sign a long-term contract with Washington, otherwise he will play on the one-year tag for $23.94 million. The Redskins could tag Cousins again in 2018, though that would cost roughly $34.5 million. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons: The reigning MVP has two years left on his deal but could argue that, with less-accomplished players getting paid, he should get a raise. Ryan comes off his best season after leading the Falcons to the Super Bowl. Jimmy Garoppolo, New
England Patriots: He enters the final year of his rookie deal as Tom Brady’s backup. There is little doubt there will be a competitive market for Garoppolo if he becomes a free agent in the spring. But will the Patriots try to sign him to an extension first to make sure they keep Brady’s presumed successor? Or they could tag and trade him as they did with Matt Cassel in 2009.