Thursday was a good day for Derek Carr and the next several generations of his family. The Oakland Raiders quarterback signed a contract extension that guarantees him $40 million right away, $70.2 million against injury and offers him the chance to earn $125 million by the time he turns 32. Looking strictly at the deal's full potential value in "new money" -- $125 million over five years -- Carr can call himself the highest-paid player in NFL history. Bravo.
But big-picture questions come with deals like this one, and the one that occupied much of ESPN's SportsCenter and NFL Live discussion Thursday was, "What effect will this deal have on the big quarterback deals to come in the near future, such as with Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins?