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ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Nothing has changed regarding Derek Carr, the Oakland Raiders and a contract extension. Not even, it would seem, the quarterback's feelings, despite a recent report that Carr was growing "frustrated" with the slow pace of contract talks. Just as he said at the start of the Raiders' offseason workout program in mid-April, Carr reasserted his belief that a deal will get done between his representatives and Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie. "I have an agent who is in charge of that and I am confident that he and Mr. McKenzie will work it out," Carr told the Fresno Bee. "I am only focused on becoming a better football player and helping my teammates become better players. "I have complete faith it will get done before training camp. These things take time. The Raiders know I want to be here; this is my family, and I know they want me to be their quarterback." So why the mini-tempest and relative silence last week? Both McKenzie and Carr have acknowledged contract talks would start after the draft, and both sides anticipate a deal being consummated before the start of training camp. NFL media that reported the "frustration" on Carr's end. It was intriguing that Carr, who opines on Twitter about everything from the NBA playoffs to scripture to new teammates, was quiet on the matter, even though his brother David works for NFL Network. Rather, in the wake of the report, Derek Carr simply typed about the start of OTAs, which got underway Monday at the team facility. Tweaked? Impatient? Frustrated? Possibly, but Carr was not letting it show -- at least, not on social media. He did not really address it until almost a week later, saying essentially the same thing he did on April 18 when it came to his agent, Tim Younger, and McKenzie hammering out a deal. "For me, I understand now that it's a part of the game," Carr said at the time. "Forever, I was like, 'Man, I just want to play ball. I don't care about that.' But, now I'm understanding what has to get done, so maybe I should care about it. I just ask questions to Tim and learning about the salary cap and these things and this and that. It's just a lot of numbers that go over my head. "But the communication from both sides has been great. They let me know exactly where they're at, what they're trying to do. We let them know where we're at, what we're trying to do. So it hasn't been hard -- it's been easy." McKenzie said at the NFL owners meetings in late March that Carr told him, "Y'all just come to me whenever. "He understands free agency, what we're trying to do, and it's never, 'I need to know now,'" McKenzie added of Carr. After adding the likes of tight end Jared Cook, right tackle Marshall Newhouse, receiver/returner Cordarrelle Patterson in free agency -- and running back Marshawn Lynch via a trade -- and drafting nine players, the Raiders have just under $33.4 million in cap space, per ESPN Stats & Information. Carr, who is returning from a broken right fibula suffered in Week 16, finished in a third-place tie in NFL MVP voting after passing for 3,937 yards while completing 63.7 percent of his passes with 28 touchdowns and six interceptions. He had a QBR of 60.6 and a passer rating of 96.7. He is reportedly in line for an Andrew Luck-type payday after making $908,346 in base salary last season. Carr would have a cap number of more than $1.7 million in 2017, the final year of his rookie contact. Luck received a record $140 million, six-year deal with $87 million guaranteed from the Indianapolis Colts last summer. The date of the deal? June 29. It is currently May 23. If a deal is not reached by the time the Raiders' first real practice in Napa on July 29, well, here's what Carr said last month: "Once football, training camp starts I won't even answer my phone if it has to do with that."
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