Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is coming off the best season of his career. In his third season in the NFL, Carr set career highs in completion percentage, yards per attempt, passer rating and QBR while also leading the NFL in both fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives.
It's probably no coincidence that the 2016 season saw Carr get the best pass protection of his career. Carr was sacked on an NFL-low 2.8 percent of his drop backs in 2016, and was under pressure less often than any other quarterback in football (23.9 percent of his drop backs). Carr, like most quarterbacks, performs significantly better when throwing from a clean pocket (103.7 passer rating) than when pressured (70.0), so that protection helped him out quite a bit.
That's why Raiders guard Gabe Jackson was thrilled to hear what Carr said after Carr signed his record-breaking $125 million contract extension.
"We figured out a way to do it so that we have the opportunity to sign the other guys that I think are important to this organization," Carr said. "That was really important to me. Not to just take every single dime that we could. I hope that that's known. Obviously, the position that I play, it has to be around a certain number. It just is what it is. At the same time, I told [my agent], if we can structure it in a way to help the Raiders get the other guys, give them an opportunity to come in, that that would be really important to me too."
Just a week after Carr signed on the dotted line, Jackson got a new deal, too. His five-year, $56 million deal made him the third-highest paid guard in football. And for that, he's happy Carr made it known that he wanted his guys taken care of.
"I started smiling when I first heard [Carr] say that because, I mean, he always said that to me before, that he wants to make sure everybody else is good," Jackson said, per the Raiders website. "It just goes to show you about his character, and how he is as a person. He's one of the most selfless people I know."
With Jackson playing alongside Donald Penn, Kelechi Osemele, Rodney Hudson and either Austin Howard or Marshall Newhouse, the Raiders should again have one of the best offensive lines in the league in 2017. And that's good news for Carr, who will be looking to justify Oakland's big investment.