“Yes!” That was Derek Carr said his initial reaction was to hearing Matthew Stafford had surpassed him as the NFL’s highest paid player on a deal that pays the Lions’ QB an average of $27 million per season.
Carr spent just over two months atop the NFL pay rankings before Stafford received his blockbuster deal to overtake him. Just as Carr expected and hoped would happen.
“Matthew can have all of that,” said Carr of Stafford’s reported 5-year, $135 million deal. “I’m happy for him. He’s a good dude and I love talking to him and my reaction to it was ‘Congratulations’ and I hope every quarterback that comes [up for a contract] beats me, beats him, and I just hope that they all just continue to do that.”
Whatever Carr’s reaction was to either his own new contract or how happy he was for Stafford, it should pale in comparison to what Stafford was feeling when Carr got his deal back in June.
Carr’s deal made him the NFL’s first $25 million man, surpassing Andrew Luck. It raised the bar for Stafford’s deal as the next big contract to be handed out. In the end, Stafford’s deal is said to be a full $2 million more per season than Carr and $10 million more over the life of the contract. He has Carr to thank for helping get him a few extra million than he would have received otherwise.
So, yeah, if Stafford hasn’t thanked Carr already, he should get on that.
“I’m glad we got my contract done and I hope all those guys can get everything they can,” Carr added. In other words, ‘you’re welcome.’
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