Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is the NFL's highest paid player. Most everybody knows that. His five-year, $125 million contract extension was big news inside Raider Nation and out, setting franchise and league records for new money and salary in a single season.
Carr has significant guaranteed money at signing and even more locked for injury, with a few balloon payments already come due.
That has created some awkward moments since formally signing a new deal.
"It's kind of weird," Carr said in Monday interview on The Dan Patrick Show. "I love helping people and doing special things, especially in the spur of the moment, even for random strangers, but now people look at you when you walk in a restaurant and wonder, ‘is he going to buy my meal?' Not if you ask, you know?"
Members of the restaurant industry might also get excited at the sight of Carr in their section, but a new contract shouldn't change that. The Raiders quarterback says his tipping strategy has long been sound.
"I've always been very generous," Carr said. "My wife worked in the restaurant business. She was a waitress, so I know how that goes. I'm always generous. I want to honor the people that take care of us, but it's so weird that people know your salary. They probably think it's more than what it is because they forget about taxes, but they say, ‘Man, you could get an island,' and it's like, ‘No. No, I can't.' (laughter) People say these random things. ... We're very fortunate and blessed, but it is a different thing when you walk around and people can look up exactly what you make."
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Carr said he planned to splurge on Chik-fil-A shortly after signing his new contract. Carr said he hasn't splurged on anything huge, but he did pay off an IOU to his older brother David Carr from when they started a gym and football school in the Central Valley.
"When we started our gym, there was a small thing we wanted to get. And this was before I got drafted or anything, I said to put it on my tab," Carr said. "We kept a running total and I never paid it for four years, and so finally he said, ‘remember that thing you said to put on your tab? It's time to pay for that.'"
