Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signed this week what is, for the moment, the richest contract extension in NFL history. He'll be paid $125 million over five years, giving him an average annual salary over $25 million per season. The deal ensures Carr will make over $85 million through the first three years, even more than Andrew Luck. 

If you're reading those numbers and thinking, "Derek Carr doesn't deserve that kind of money," just know that you're not alone. Derek Carr himself is right there with you... but his teammates aren't. 

"All of my teammates to a man said, 'Man, you work your tail off, you deserve it,'" Carr said during his press conference, per the Associated Press. "I don't feel like I deserve it. But just them saying that grabbed my heart because they're the ones I go to battle with, they're the ones I work with every single day. What they have to say really matters to me. I do know I will have to owe them all a big dinner. That will be fun."

We knew from the start of his negotiations that Carr was likely to become the highest-paid quarterback in the league, which meant that he was going to become the highest-paid player in league history by default. He's shown himself to be a franchise passer through his first three seasons, and every time the next franchise passer comes up for an extension, he (and the agent) use the most recent market-setting contract as a benchmark, For the most part, these QBs do not accept a deal that pays less. 

The next QB on their rookie contract to make Carr-like strides will probably sign a deal that pushes him down the list to No. 2, and then the same will happen with the QB after that. That's just how this goes. 

The Raiders, for their part, recognized this, and got a deal done ahead of camp. They have money to burn anyway, thanks to Reggie McKenzie's multi-year rebuilding project that landed players like Carr, Khalil Mack, Amari Cooper and more, so it doesn't put a crimp in their long-term plans to pay Carr big money. 

"From the outset, both sides wanted the deal done, and I felt our guys did a great job getting together and hammering it out," McKenzie said. "We both wanted the same thing. That part was easy. We could tell that Derek wanted to be here. And we let him know, without a doubt, that we wanted him here."

They certainly did.