Raiders quarterback Marcus Mariota has accepted that he’s not going to find a team willing to pay him starter money this season.
And so Mariota plans to sign a new contract with the Raiders, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
The new contract will have a steep pay cut: Under his old deal Mariota was slated to make $10.725 million this season, but now he’ll make just $3.5 million. However, he can make up to $8 million if he hits all his incentives.
Hitting those incentives probably won’t be possible unless starting quarterback Derek Carr gets injured or benched.
Last year Mariota appeared in just one game, coming off the bench for an injured Carr, and he played reasonably well in that one. But he didn’t play well enough for any team to want to trade for his old contract, so instead he’ll stick around on a reduced deal for his second year in Las Vegas.