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Latest On Ravens QB Lamar Jackson

September 14th, 2022 at 10:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens didn’t agree to an extension before their self-imposed deadline, and we later learned that the QB turned down a final six-year, $290MM offer. Jackson is pushing back on that notion, telling reporters that “there’s no truth” to the report, per Armando Salguero of Outkick.com.

[RELATED: Lamar Jackson Rejected Six-Year, $290MM+ Offer]

The QB is presumably talking about the financial aspects of the reported offer. When we initially learned of Baltimore’s $290MM offer, it was reported that less than half that amount was guaranteed. However, Jackson later acknowledged to ESPN’s Dianna Russini that the Ravens were actually offering between $160MM and $180MM in guaranteed money (Twitter link).

Jackson’s assertion that there was “no truth” to the weekend report would seem to imply that Baltimore’s offer was lower than what was reported, but his later comments to Russini would actually make that reported offer sound even better for the QB. Perhaps he was pushing back at the $290MM total contract value, but that’d also mean that a higher percentage of his total contract value would have been guaranteed.

The quarterback also hinted that he’d reconsider his stance against negotiating an extension during the season. While the former MVP may still be open to discussing a new deal with the Ravens, he has no desire to discuss his potential deal with the media. Speaking to reporters today, Jackson said he’s done talking about his negotiations.

“Respectfully, I’m done talking about it,” Jackson said (via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley). “I told you guys before, I was going to be done with it Week 1. Week 1 is over with. We’re done talking about it. I’m focused on the Dolphins now.”

Jackson continues to push for a fully guaranteed contract, a request that the Ravens front office has been willingness to accomodate. When asked why he’s holding firm on his desire for a full guarantee, the quarterback reiterated that he’s done discussing the matter publicly.

AFC Injury Notes: Ravens, Watt, Bengals

September 14th, 2022 at 9:14pm CST by Ben Levine

J.K. Dobbins returned to practice today, with the running back hoping to make his long-awaited return to the field this Sunday. The Ravens running back admitted that his injury “wasn’t just a normal ACL,” with Dobbins explaining that he tore his ACL, LCL, hamstring, and meniscus at the end of the 2021 preseason (per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley on Twitter). It’s been just over a year since Dobbins suffered his injury.

“It would mean the world to me if I can go out there this Sunday and play well in front of a full house,” Dobbins said (via Hensley).

Fellow running back Gus Edwards also missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL, but thanks to his placement on PUP, he’ll have to sit out the first four games of the season. Still, Edwards took to Instagram to tell fans that he continues to progress in his recovery and eventual return to the field.

“For everybody wondering about my recovery I’m doing great and I’m very close,” Edwards wrote.

More injury notes from around the AFC…

  • The news keeps getting better for T.J. Watt and the Steelers. The star linebacker could recover from his partially torn pectoral muscle within five weeks, according to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com. There was initial fear that Watt had completely torn his pec, which would have ended his season. The news quickly got better; we learned yesterday that Watt wouldn’t need surgery and could be back within six weeks.
  • Bengals long snapper Clark Harris is expected to miss an extended amount of time after tearing his biceps, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). While Zac Taylor didn’t want to rule out the LS for the season, he did acknowledge that the 38-year-old will miss at least a few months (via ESPN’s Ben Baby on Twitter). Harris, a one-time Pro Bowler, has been with the organization since 2009. Cal Adomitis will get the first shot to replace Harris at long snapper.
  • J.C. Jackson has been listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Chiefs, and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said earlier this week that the cornerback has a “50-50” shot at playing (per NFL Network’s James Palmer on Twitter). Jackson previously suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the team’s Week 1 victory over the Raiders. After earning a second-team All-Pro nod with the Patriots in 2021, Jackson joined Los Angeles this offseason on a five-year, $82.5MM deal. Meanwhile, both Chargers wideout Keenan Allen (hamstring) and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (ankle) have been ruled out for Thursday’s showdown.
  • Mac Jones dealt with back spasms following the Patriots‘ Week 1 loss to the Dolphins, but the quarterback continues to improve, according to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi (on Twitter). A source told Giardi that the QB is “doing everything he needs to” in order to be on the field for this weekend’s matchup against the Steelers. Jones and the Patriots offense struggled during the season opener, with the second-year QB guiding New England to only one touchdown.

Ravens Add CB T.J. Carrie To Practice Squad

September 14th, 2022 at 6:00pm CST by Ben Levine

The Ravens have added a veteran defensive back to their taxi squad. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley (on Twitter), the Ravens have signed cornerback T.J. Carrie to their practice squad.

Baltimore is already down a cornerback with Kyle Fuller having suffered a torn ACL, ending his season after only one game. Carrie obviously can’t replace the Pro Bowl cornerback, but he’ll provide the organization with some experienced depth.

A seventh-round pick in 2014, Carrie has managed to stick around the NFL for eight-plus seasons. He spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Colts, starting two of his 26 appearances. Following a 2020 campaign where he was graded as a starting-caliber cornerback by Pro Football Focus, his grades took a significant step back in 2021. Carrie ultimately finished his Indy career having collected 55 tackles and a pair of interceptions.

Besides Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, and nickelback Brandon Stephens, the only other healthy CBs on Baltimore’s active roster are rookie fourth-round picks (Damarion Williams and Jalyn Armour-Davis). The Ravens also have Daryl Worley and Kevon Seymour stashed on the practice squad.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/22

September 14th, 2022 at 4:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22

September 13th, 2022 at 9:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.

Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.

Ravens CB Kyle Fuller Suffers Torn ACL

September 12th, 2022 at 2:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens suffered two injuries during yesterday’s win over the Jets, but in both cases, that contest will be their only action of the 2022 season. Cornerback Kyle Fuller tore his ACL, head coach John Harbaugh confirmed when speaking to the media on Monday. 

[RELATED: Ravens LT James To Miss Season With Torn Achilles]

The 30-year-old signed in Baltimore in May, looking to use the homecoming as a way to re-build his value. Fuller played in Denver last season on a $9.5MM deal, but found himself in and out of the lineup competing with a number of young Broncos corners. He failed to record an interception for the first time in his career, a far cry from the league-leading seven picks he amassed during his All-Pro Bears season in 2018.

Still, Fuller projected as a key rotational player in a Ravens CB room which saw plenty of turnover during the offseason. The departures of Anthony Averett and Jimmy Smith left a roster spot open for a veteran addition, especially given the injury concerns faced by starters Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters.

The latter missed the 2021 season in its entirety, leaving his Week 1 status in the air. He was activated from the PUP list in August, but did indeed sit out yesterday’s game. That left Fuller as a starter, and he logged a defensive snap share of 95%. A return to the field by Peters in time for Week 2 would alleviate the need for a new first-teamer on the perimeter, but the Ravens’ depth could be tested early in the year especially if he is unable to do so.

Baltimore will likely lean more heavily on Brandon Stephens in Fuller’s absence; the team could also use more three-safety packages including Marcus Williams, Chuck Clark and Kyle Hamilton. Fourth-round rookies Jayln Armour-Davis and Damarion Williams could be in line for increased playing time as well. Fuller, meanwhile, will turn his attention to recovery as he now faces another ‘prove-it’ deal in free agency next offseason.

Lamar Jackson Rejected Six-Year, $290MM+ Offer

September 11th, 2022 at 10:30pm CST by Rory Parks

One of the most prevalent NFL storylines this offseason has been the Ravens’ extension negotiations with star quarterback Lamar Jackson, and we learned on Friday that the two sides had not come to terms. As such, it is likely that contract talks will be tabled until the offseason.

We now have more details on Baltimore’s most recent offer. Per ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Ravens proposed a six-year deal worth over $290MM, which included $133MM guaranteed at signing (Twitter link). The full guarantees and the average annual value would have eclipsed the figures included in the recent contracts signed by Denver’s Russell Wilson ($124MM fully guaranteed, $48.5MM AAV) and Arizona’s Kyler Murray ($103.3MM fully guaranteed, $46.5MM AAV). Indeed, Mortensen says that Wilson’s pact — which was signed just 10 days ago — prompted the Ravens to up their offer.

As has become increasingly clear, Jackson wants his entire contract to be fully guaranteed, just like the one the Browns gave to Deshaun Watson. Of course, clubs are trying to treat the Watson accord as an outlier, and Wilson and Murray clearly did not object to that approach. According to veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson, Baltimore was frustrated that Jackson, unlike Wilson and Murray, did not accept that unique circumstances precipitated Watson’s deal (Twitter links).

Anderson adds that helping elite quarterbacks land fully guaranteed contracts in the future is important to Jackson (links to Twitter). One wonders if the NFLPA — which, as Mortensen tweets, counseled the agentless Jackson — might have influenced the 2019 MVP in that regard, though there is presently nothing to suggest that is the case.

If Jackson continues to bet on himself and takes the “Kirk Cousins approach” to the situation — i.e., forcing the Ravens to put the franchise tag on him in 2023 and ’24 — he would earn around $100MM in guaranteed money over those two seasons, along with the $23MM he is earning in 2022. In 2025, when the cap charge of a third franchise tag becomes untenable, Jackson could theoretically have the leverage to get the fully guaranteed deal he desires from Baltimore or another franchise.

That obviously assumes that his play remains at a high level and that he does not suffer a career-altering injury, though Anderson hears that Jackson is essentially bullet-proof; no matter what happens to him (barring something completely catastrophic), sources expect him to ultimately get what he wants (Twitter links). That may or may not be true, but it is clearly a risk Jackson is willing to take.

We heard previously that the negotiations have not led to any acrimony between Jackson and the Ravens, and for what it’s worth, the union believes the team has negotiated in good faith (Twitter link via Mortensen). Baltimore did include $2.5MM “de-escalator” clauses if Jackson did not attend a certain percentage of offseason workouts, though it’s unlikely that particular provision had much of an impact in talks.

For now, the Ravens and Jackson will turn their attention to Sunday’s opener against the Jets, the start of another campaign in which expectations are high for player and team.

Ravens LT Ja’Wuan James Suffers Torn Achilles

September 11th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens entered today’s game without their starting left tackle, and exited it with their top replacement option unavailable as well. Ja’Wuan James left the contest due to an injury which head coach John Harbaugh has since announced is a torn Achilles (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo). 

The news is a crushing blow for the 30-year-old. James’ appearance today was his first since 2019, as he had just made his way back from the Achilles tear which ended his time with the Broncos. After signing with the Ravens last offseason, there was a chance he would have been able to play, but he remained sidelined as 2022 insurance for All-Pro Ronnie Stanley.

The latter’s lingering ankle problems led to him being declared inactive yesterday. Stanley has played just one game since October 2020, and his absence was a significant contributor to the Ravens’ offensive line struggles last year. The team took steps to add both starting and depth options over the offseason, including retaining James despite his injury uncertainty. It was confirmed during the summer that James would be the primary backup on the blindside, even though his experience all-but exclusively came as a right tackle.

Free agent signing Morgan Moses manned that spot, and he is expected to do so despite James’ injury. Filling in for James was Patrick Mekari, who spent most of last season as a fill-in at RT while the Ravens dealt with Stanley’s absence. The former UDFA has proven himself an effective backup across the line, and will likely start at left tackle next week unless Stanley is able to return – something which the team now requires with even more urgency than before today.

2022 Offseason In Review Series

September 10th, 2022 at 10:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

This season will feature 12 new Week 1 starting quarterbacks, though the Jets’ decision is the result of an injury rather than a roster move. High-profile wide receivers also changed teams, igniting one of the biggest market shifts a single position has seen. The Offseason In Review series is now complete. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how the 32 NFL teams assembled their 2022 rosters.

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/10/22

September 10th, 2022 at 7:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s minor moves around the league, as teams prepare for the first Sunday slate of regular season games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

The Cardinals’ moves come as a reaction to yesterday’s injury news. Baccellia’s roster spot was opened up in the short-term by the injury to Rondale Moore, but he won’t simply be a stop-gap. Arizona signed the 25-year-old to a two-year deal to remain on the main roster, per Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (Twitter link). A UDFA out of Washington, Baccellia has yet to make a regular season NFL appearance.

Likewise, the fact that Ford will miss at least the first four weeks of the season makes the re-acquisition of Garcia a logical one. The former fourth-rounder has plenty of guard experience, including his three seasons spent in Arizona. It was only in 2021 that he logged any starts, but he could provide veteran depth behind Justin Pugh at least until Ford is able to return.

Addison, 35, was one of several veteran signings the Texans made this offseason to add depth to their front seven. He had a productive season with the Bills last season, notching seven sacks despite not starting any games. In his absence, Harris and Pierre-Louis will provide depth in the edge rush department on Sunday, and likely the short-term future as well.

Quick reminder that standard game day practice squad promotions are a recent development from the new CBA and COVID-19 seasons. Essentially, each team is able to promote two players from the practice squad to the active roster for game days. The players will automatically revert back to the practice squad after the game, not needing to clear waivers before rejoining the developmental roster. A player can only be promoted three times per season. If a team would like to promote a player for a fourth game, they’ll need to go through the normal method of creating space on the 53-man roster to promote them and have them clear waivers before placing them back on the practice squad. That is the difference between “Signed to 53-man roster” from the practice squad and “Promoted from practice squad.”

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