Tennessee Titans: Derek Carr contract should make Marcus Mariota happy
By Dale Lolley
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota could break the bank on a new deal that will eclipse the $125-million deal signed by David Carr.
Derek Carr‘s record-breaking contract with the Oakland Raiders should make Marcus Mariota a very happy young man. Surely Carr’s five-year, $125-million deal will make a lot of quarterbacks smile. But Mariota, whose rookie contract with the Tennessee Titans is up after the 2019 season, could break the bank.
Two years into his career, Mariota’s numbers are better than those of Carr’s after his first two seasons. And, if he makes the expected leap this year Carr did in his third season, $25 million per season might not get a new deal done with Mariota.
In his first two seasons, the Titans quarterback has recorded a passer rating of 93.8 with 45 touchdown passes and just 19 interceptions. His 2016 season — a passer rating of 95.6 with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions — helped the Titans improve from three wins in 2015 to nine in 2016.
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Those numbers compare quite favorably to Carr’s first two seasons, when he threw 53 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. Carr followed that up by throwing for 3,937 yards with 29 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2016.
Though he has been nicked up in both of his NFL seasons — including suffering a broken leg to end 2016 — Mariota has shown himself to be a franchise quarterback. He’s a player that you build a team around. And those are costly, as Carr’s deal just reminded us once again.
If Mariota makes the expected next step, Tennessee will be more than happy to ante up the cash. That next step would include leading the Titans to their first postseason berth since 2008. That’s why they spent the second-overall pick on Mariota in 2015, in the hopes he would be a franchise quarterback. They selected him in the hope that he would lead the franchise out of some dark times.
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But eventually, franchise quarterbacks need to be paid. And Carr’s deal could be nothing more than a starting point in the negotiations. A big 2017 season could make Mariota the NFL’s first $30-million-per-year player.