The Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson have consistently expressed full confidence that a new contract will get done, but as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, no deal is imminent at this point. Though we have not heard many details about the negotiations, La Canfora offers a little insight in that regard.
He says that Jackson has been seeking a payout in line with Patrick Mahomes‘ $45MM/year contract with the Chiefs, but Mahomes’ deal covers 10 years, and it does not sound as if Baltimore wants to commit to that kind of a term (presumably because of the fear that Jackson’s running capabilities, which are a critical component of his value, could diminish with time). That said, the club does concede that Jackson is a $40MM+/year quarterback, and La Canfora posits that Josh Allen‘s $43MM/year deal with the Bills — a six-year pact worth $258MM, including $150MM in overall guarantees and $100MM guaranteed at signing — is probably Jackson’s floor at this point.
After all, Jackson is playing at a high level while Mahomes is in the midst of a down year and Allen has regressed a bit from his stellar 2020 campaign, so some league execs believe the Ravens will have no choice but to top Mahomes’ $45MM AAV in order to finalize a deal with the 2019 MVP. Although Jackson has thrown more interceptions this season (eight) than he and the team would like, part of that is because he has been asked to expand the club’s downfield passing game, and his throwing as a whole has noticeably improved. Marquise Brown has looked more like a true No. 1 receiver this year, rookie wideout Rashod Bateman has looked terrific in his first professional action, and Mark Andrews is still performing as one of the league’s top TEs.
Plus, Jackson continues to spearhead the Baltimore rushing attack, which is especially important this year, as the Ravens lost the top three RBs on their depth chart to injury before the season even began. Baltimore wants to avoid the type of protracted negotiations that the Cowboys had with Dak Prescott, which ultimately cost the club millions of dollars, but with Jackson accounting for even more total yards per game than he did in his MVP season, one wonders if Jackson could become the NFL’s first $50MM/year player.
There still does not seem to be any doubt that the two sides will come together on an extension; it just looks like that will not happen until 2022 at the earliest.
Lot of big money for these QBs that have won nothing.
Well he did win a MVP so there’s that….
This is looking like the Dak situation all over again. The Cowboys ended up paying at least 5 million more a season by editing and so will Baltimore unless they wake up and get a deal done soon. Either he is or isn’t your future. Decide and act one way or another.
I can’t fault Baltimore, we’ve already sen a drop off from Lamar since his rookie year. They’re probably thinking more like 5 years max
The only QB listed there who has done anything significant is Mahomes who has a ring and 2 Super Bowl appearances. Lamar has done nothing in the playoffs. He can’t ask for Mahomes money until he does.
who’s his agent again? not lookn good from the start.
Imagine thinking this bum is worth 45 million per season. His qbr is 56 this year, and shrinks in playoffs. Easy pass
No more than 30 million. And that’s insanity for someone that throws a football. Completely insane that the fans continue to pay these insane prices to watch these guys. Now they definitely should be paid great in the millions. But this is ridiculous