Lamar Jackson

The Ravens are said to be far apart in extension talks with Lamar Jackson. According to a source who spoke with Mike Florio of PFT, those discussions haven’t actually started yet. 

[RELATED: Ravens, Jackson Far Apart?]

Often times, conflicting reports like these are a matter of semantics. Do broader conversations about years/dollars qualify as negotiations? That depends on who you ask. But, as Florio notes, Jackson does not have an agent, so it’s hard to imagine that the Ravens have gotten especially deep in talks.

As it stands, Jackson is set to make just $1.77MM this year. In 2022, per the new collective bargaining agreement, his fifth-year option will be equivalent to the quarterback transition tender for 2021. Jackson triggered that by making a Pro Bowl. The QB transition tender was worth $21.75MM last year. This year, after the cap reduction, it should still fall somewhere near $20MM.

The higher value of the fifth-year option gives Jackson some additional leverage. It’s likely that he’ll seek a deal in the range of Deshaun Watson‘s four-year, $156MM extension. Watson’s pact gave him a $39MM average annual value and included a healthy $73MM guaranteed at signing. But, as of this writing, it sounds like the two sides have yet to truly engage.

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John Harbaugh said the Ravens will explore an extension with Lamar Jackson either this year or next. It looks like the sides are already talking.

The Ravens and their MVP quarterback have begun discussing a new deal, but Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes the sides are far apart at this juncture. Jackson, who became extension-eligible in January, is due just a $1.77MM base salary in 2021. The Ravens will surely pick up his fifth-year option by May, locking him down through 2022.

Since taking the reins of Baltimore’s offense midway through his rookie season, Jackson has played the centerpiece role in the team’s ascent in that time. The Ravens missed the playoffs from 2015-17, and while they have assembled high-end defenses during Jackson’s years, his historically elite rushing talents and improvement as a passer have re-established the team as an AFC power. Some factors could work against a Jackson deal being done soon, though.

While it would make sense for Jackson to secure an extension ahead of making that low-end base salary this season, a few recent quarterback re-ups have gone quite poorly. Carson Wentz and Jared Goff both regressed after signing big-ticket extensions ahead of their fourth seasons. They are now on other teams, with the trades forcing the Eagles and Rams to eat record-setting dead-money sums. A clear Jackson peer, Deshaun Watson has requested a trade less than six months after signing a $39MM-per-year Texans extension. That development figures to at least give teams pause. On the other end of this, the Cowboys’ near-two-year run of negotiations with Dak Prescott has driven up the QB’s price immensely.

Watson’s deal would make sense as a floor for Jackson, even though the former has shown far more as a passer to this point. The imminent salary cap reduction has long been expected to be a one-year blip, and the anticipated run of TV deals should do plenty to boost the 2022-and-beyond caps. Jackson and Josh Allen stand to benefit. And the Bills’ talks with their quarterback, expected this year, will pertain to Jackson. Allen has not offered as much consistency as Jackson, though the Buffalo passer rocketed onto his 2018 draft classmate’s level with a dominant 2020 season. Both QBs entering their fourth seasons will tie together their respective negotiations.

The Ravens have already extended two other cornerstone players — Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey — but they have a key issue at edge rusher to navigate soon. Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue are free agents; so are two key backups. Baltimore also has an extra year to negotiate with Jackson; the team does not have that luxury with Mark Andrews, a third-round pick entering a contract year. Jackson, though, represents this puzzle’s biggest piece. His talks with the Ravens will be a key NFL matter in the coming weeks/months.

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The Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs last night in a game that raised more questions than it answered about quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s ability to win in the playoffs. Although it appeared that Jackson had put that narrative to bed with his team’s victory over the Titans in last week’s wildcard round, the naysayers are back in full force following Baltimore’s loss to the Bills, which included a Jackson pick-six that turned what could have been a tied score or a 10-6 deficit into a 17-3 game.

Never mind that the game also featured a plethora of bad snaps from center Patrick Mekari, poor pass-blocking from the Ravens’ O-line, two missed field goals by the normally automatic Justin Tucker, and a dropped pass that set up the Bills’ first score. Never mind that offensive coordinator Greg Roman, whose passing game concepts and questionable play-calling undermine his strengths in the run game, seems to get outcoached against good teams. Never mind that Jackson’s best skill-position players are also playing on their rookie deals, and that Peyton Manning didn’t win his first playoff game until his sixth professional season.

Yes, Jackson still needs to improve as a passer. The pick-six was on him and was a devastating blow. But he won the league MVP last year, his age-22 season. He is a dynamic playmaker who has shown plenty of flashes of top-tier ability throwing the ball, even if he never becomes Manning in that regard. He posted nearly a 3:1 TD-to-INT ratio this year en route to a 99.3 quarterback rating, and he became the first QB in league history to rush for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons. He is also a high-character leader who has the full respect of his teammates, and there is reason to believe he will continue polishing his right arm.

The Ravens appear to agree, as they are expected to explore an extension for their young signal-caller this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link). That would seem to fall under the “no duh” category of NFL reports, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta has made it a point to be proactive with extensions for key players, and locking up Jackson in a year when the salary cap will decrease or remain the same could be to the Ravens’ advantage.

As Rapoport notes, Jackson represented himself when negotiating his rookie deal, and it remains to be seen if he will hire an agent before discussions about his second contract commence. One way or another, it would seem that Deshaun Watson‘s re-up with the Texans is the best comp. Watson’s extension was a four-year add-on worth $156MM (a $39MM AAV) and featured $73MM guaranteed at signing. Look for Jackson’s new deal to include similar figures.

Assuming player and team do not have an extension in place by the deadline to exercise fifth-year options in May, that will obviously be a no-brainer decision for the Ravens. Jackson’s fifth-year option, which would go into effect for the 2022 season, would be fully guaranteed — since he is a member of the 2018 draft class — and would be worth about $25MM (as Albert Breer of SI.com notes on Twitter). But that will almost certainly be more of a placeholder than anything else, as a new deal should be consummated prior to the 2022 campaign.

The Ravens will have plenty of other contractual issues to hash out in the coming months. Pass rushers Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue are eligible for unrestricted free agency, and TE Mark Andrews and OT Orlando Brown may be seeking extensions of their own.

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