Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens could well be set for a nervous reunion down the line following a claim by Peter King about the quarterback’s contract situation.
Lamar Jackson took an awfully big risk on himself last offseason, and it seems as though it isn’t going to work our for him. Having come off one season-ending injury in 2021, the Baltimore Ravens, in recognition of what he had done for the franchise offered him a 3-year, fully guaranteed deal, which seems like a very reasonable offer for someone coming off a bad injury.
Fast-forward to the end of the 2022 season, and Jackson suffers another season-ending injury, which obviously gives the Ravens something to think about, and as a result they hand him the non-exclusive franchise tag, which allows other teams to come in and negotiate a long-term deal which the Ravens will then have a chance to match it. Failing that he’ll be playing for $32.416m on a one-year deal.
The Ravens could still negotiate a long-term deal, even if another team doesn’t come in and make on offer for Jackson, but according to Peter King, that doesn’t look as if it’s going to be the case.
Baltimore Ravens need to look at life after Lamar Jackson?
Writing in his Football Morning In America column, King revealed what he had heard over the weekend at the league owner’s meeting, and how it looks as if the Ravens and Jackson aren’t likely to come to an agreement any time soon, which could force them to look to free agency, or maybe even the upcoming draft to get their future at the position sorted:
The Lamar saga. Day 12 of Lamar Jackson on the rested free-agent market, and no news is bad news. Not a soul here is even whispering about the prospect of Jackson getting an offer sheet, and there’s no sign of talks between the Ravens and Jackson to try to rekindle contract discussions. All I can say is the Ravens had better, deep in the back of their pragmatic minds, start to consider veteran alternatives—and maybe even the rookie second- and third-round QB market.
King's notes came before this morning when Jackson took to Twitter to announce that he had requested a trade from the team:
What will life without Lamar Jackson look like?
If I were the Ravens, outside options would definitely be the way that I would be looking, because the only real option on the team right now is Tyler Huntley, who as his Pro Football Reference stats will show, is not the answer that they’ll be looking for, as he has gone 3-5 as a starter with a total quarterback rating of 76.6.
Veterans might not be the answer either, we’ve seen how much the Indianapolis Colts have struggled with their carousel on what looked like a Super Bowl ready team, meanwhile getting a quarterback later in the draft is a bit of a lottery, not everyone can be a Tom Brady or even a Brock Purdy, so hoping one of them can take you to the title would be a big ask.
It certainly is looking like a very scary future for the Ravens if they can’t get this whole thing sorted out soon.