The Clock Is Now Ticking for Derek Carr, the Raiders' New $125 Million Man

The NFL's highest-paid quarterback is rarely the NFL's best quarterback. He's simply the most recent really good quarterback to sign a new contract.

But the NFL's highest-paid quarterback is often the quarterback facing the most scrutiny. And pressure.

Arguing about whether a young quarterback is "worth" the $125 million reported deal the Raiders just gave Derek Carr is an errand for fools, cranks and Washington Redskins executives. Carr is the NFL's highest-paid player now. Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston will eventually surpass him, and Dak Prescott will eventually surpass them, with Aaron Rodgers horning in when the time comes for an extension. And don't worry about Tom Brady, folks: He has Michael Jordan-level advertiser appeal and a spouse who makes more than him.

The ink is still drying on the details of Carr's deal. But however the guarantees and bonuses shake out, Carr just received market value for Carr-like services. The Raiders did nothing groundbreaking or controversial by making him the NFL's highest-paid player. They just paid the premium on their most important investment.

The only question remaining is how patiently fans will wait for a return on that investment.

A $125 million contract carries a Super Bowl assumption. Any quarterback who signs a huge contract must deliver the goods in a finite amount of time. If he fails, his new contract can and will be held against him, first by the smart alecks, then the fanbase at large and then (often) by the organization that once proudly trumpeted the deal.

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It's not really fair. But it's inevitable. In the court of public opinion, veteran quarterbacks are either champions or overpaid, and only Joe Flacco gets to be both. In front offices, buyer's remorse is the No. 1 cause of employment termination.

Everything Carr has done so far in his career has merely been a prologue, albeit an impressive, tightly plotted one. He was a promising young starter on a terrible team as a rookie. Then a rising-star sophomore with big stats and a knack for late comebacks. Then he became a playoff-caliber signal-caller and, before getting injured late last year, a legitimate MVP candidate.

Carr did exactly what the rookie salary cap was designed to allow rookies to do. Instead of signing a $61 million rookie contract and beginning his career with a long holdout and a crippling demand for immediate results (like former Raiders would-be savior JaMarcus Russell), Carr received modest money and early-career expectations to match. He gestated, the Raiders invested their money across the roster instead of heaping it on a rookie and everyone benefited.

The expectation built into the rookie salary cap was that those rookies would be able to cash in once they proved themselves. Carr cashed in right on schedule. The deferred payments now come with deferred expectations, both for the player and team.

The definitive Carr story begins now that everyone has come of age. The Raiders are contenders, and Carr is in the "elite quarterback" conversation. If everything proceeds according to the script, first the money flows, then the post-Super Bowl champagne.

If everything stops proceeding according to the script, however, reputations will suffer. And not just Carr's reputation, either.

Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie was the NFL's Executive of the Year last year. That honor carries a curse as damning as Best New Artist at the Grammys (see Mike Maccagnan while listening to Evanescence), but McKenzie's methodical reconstruction of the Raiders has been as impressive and thorough as Carr's development. McKenzie purged the roster and cleared cap space. He drafted like a wizard. Finally, he reopened the wallet to add carefully selected veterans. And the Raiders have gotten better with each decision.

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

The time has now arrived for McKenzie to start spending to maintain the nucleus he has built, and it won't be cheap. Khalil Mack will soon be in the market for a new deal, with Amari Cooper next in line.

McKenzie has positioned the team well for the coming budget bulge. And again, dropping $125 million on Carr today is better than dropping $135 million on him after the Lions extend Matthew Stafford tomorrow or a zillion dollars after Dan Snyder (or Jed York) finally decides to drop a cartoon safe on Kirk Cousins. But the Carr deal marks the beginning of a Raiders 2.0 period for McKenzie, as well as Carr, with coach Jack Del Rio also along for the ride.

No more honeymoons. No more baby steps. No more moral victories by making the playoffs or the Pro Bowl. For Carr and the Raiders, it's now Super Bowl or, well, bust.

Grace periods are mercilessly short in the NFL. The dedicated cranks (and Broncos fans) will come out of the woodwork to criticize Carr's new contract after his first incomplete pass. Professional reactionaries on the sports-talk and columnist circuit will hold forth after the first losing streak or interception jag.

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Cooler heads will wait, especially if Carr's early "failure" is a 38-35 loss in an AFC Championship Game in Foxborough, or something. But even the Patriots only provide so much cover when a quarterback fails to deliver a title. The Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb Eagles rose and fell in Philadelphia, with a whole city shouting "good riddance" at the end. Gary Kubiak and Matt Schaub led the Texans to their first playoff success, then left town as laughingstocks. Fan patience is at or near its end in Cincinnati and Charlotte, and axes have already started falling in Indianapolis.

Carr has a much more tangible deadline than most quarterbacks in his situation. He may now be under contract for six years, but only two left while playing in Oakland. After that, Carr will be the quarterback of the Las Vegas Raiders. If he doesn't lead the team to a Super Bowl before that, a historic pro football city will forever be left stung by one final disappointment.

A scary image of things to come if Carr fails: Carr in Vegas in 2022 as a cross between Jay Cutler and Wayne Newton, playing out the string in front of weekend-warrior crowds with one eye on the field and the other on their parlay cards, everyone eager to cut their losses and try something else.

No, that's too awful to contemplate, not on these bright summer days when Carr is stinkin' rich and the Raiders are one of the NFL's most compelling challengers. Better to imagine Carr soon hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, confetti flying, a Super Bowl parade led by Marshawn Lynch driving a golf cart and Oakland leaving the NFL landscape in style as a true City of Champions.

Carr's new contract all but demands that he turn that second daydream into a reality. That's the double-edged sword of the title "Franchise Quarterback," the duty and responsibility that comes with the fame and fortune.

The money is flowing. Which means that the clock is ticking.

Mike Tanier covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeTanier.