KANSAS CITY -- It is obvious, isn't it?
Derek Carr does not look like the same quarterback he was last season when, despite breaking his right ankle in Week 16, he finished tied for third in NFL MVP voting.
There were the acrobatics -- remember his Superman-like dive over a defender in New Orleans in the season opener? There was the laser-like accuracy and deep shots with aplomb, and the white-knuckle finishes -- he won seven games in 2016 on fourth-quarter or overtime drives.
That's a major reason the Oakland Raiders gave him that five-year, $125 million contract this offseason, making him, at the time, the highest-paid player in the history of the game.