Jimmy Garoppolo, 3 other quarterbacks under pressure in 2021

No. 1: Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders

Remember back when Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signed his then-record five-year, $125 million new contract in 2017, one which was going to have a direct impact on how much San Francisco had to dish out to Jimmy Garoppolo the following offseason?

In hindsight, even though the market essentially dictated both deals, both the Raiders and 49ers probably wish they had taken other courses of action.

San Francisco 49ers

At any rate, Carr’s situation is notably different than that of Garoppolo. There’s no hot-shot rookie staring up at Carr on the depth chart, and Carr has been fully healthy since signing that long-term deal.

Except he’s been anything but the Pro Bowl-caliber player he was between 2015 and 2017, though.

Carr is still under contract through 2022, not unlike Garoppolo. Also similar to Garoppolo, Carr doesn’t have any more guaranteed money on his deal, and Las Vegas could cut bait with him next season with zero in dead money and a full $19.88 million in cap savings.

Factoring in Carr’s apparent decline the last few years, plus the fact the Raiders stand poised to be towards the basement of a tough AFC West, it’s hard to envision any scenario where head coach Jon Gruden entertains keeping Carr around outside of a massive turnaround under center.

With Carr having just turned 30 years old, however, it doesn’t seem likely.